


Love is in the air

by Adam_Irons



Category: RWBY
Genre: Clubbing, Coffee, Confessions, Crushes, Crying, Dating, Drinking, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, First Kiss, Hangover, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Kissing, Love Confessions, Love Letters, Lunch, Panic Attacks, Past Abuse, Past Domestic Violence, Past Relationship(s), Rare Pairings, Secret Admirer, Secret Crush, Secrets, Sexuality Crisis, Shipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-04-22 23:38:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 27,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14319591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adam_Irons/pseuds/Adam_Irons
Summary: When Weiss gets an anonymous love letter, it sparks a conversation between team RWBY about who they all might have feelings for, leading to various ships/pairings, and eventual romance.





	1. The Letter

**Author's Note:**

> This work will not be continued.

It was a perfectly unremarkable Friday evening when team RWBY received the letter. However, as they had come to learn during their time so far at the school, life at Beacon was far from predictable. They had come to expect the unexpected, staying on their toes in preparation for the next big twist that was surely just around the corner.

Nevertheless, not one of the four girls expected a letter to be slid right underneath their door, presumably from somebody in the corridor right outside. Blake glanced up from her book, seeing the single folded over sheet of paper by the door, before looking around to gauge her teammates reaction. Weiss and yang were both frowning down at the letter, while Ruby was oblivious, her headphones blaring music directly into her ears.

“What’s that?” Weiss asked aloud, as Yang hopped down from her top bunk to inspect the item.

“It’s a letter.” Yang replied, picking it up and causing Weiss to roll her eyes at the obvious answer.

“Who’s it from?” Blake inquired. Yang opened the door, looking around the corridor, but she had taken too long since the letter had been posted and saw nobody out there.

“Don’t know...” Yang told them, closing the door before turning it over, unfolding it and seeing a name written at the top. “Weiss, it’s for you.” She told her, looking up at the heiress before continuing to read it.

“Don’t read it!” Weiss exclaimed. “It could be private!” 

Yang ignored the heiress’s protests, as she continued to read the short letter, gasping halfway though, and chuckling once she finished reading it, before finally handing it to Weiss. The white haired girl snatched it from her, reading what Yang obviously found so funny.

 

‘Dear Weiss,  
I know I’m probably not your type, but I can’t stop thinking about you. I wanted to save myself the embarrassment of making my identity known, but I just had to let you know that I’m crazy about you.  
All my love...’

 

Weiss’s cheeks turned bright red, as she folded the letter up. Yang’s laughter died down, although had attracted the attention of Ruby, who pulled off her headphones and joined in the conversation.

“What’s that?” Ruby asked, cocking her head and looking at the paper in Weiss’s hand.

“N-Nothing!” Weiss lied, crumpling it up and holding it to her chest.

“Weiss got a love letter!” yang cried, bursting into laughter once again.

“It’s not that funny, Yang...” Blake stated, still trying to read, seemingly disinterested in the letter.

“You didn’t read it!” Yang replied, as Ruby tried to catch up.

“Wait, you got a love letter!?” She exclaimed, grinning in delight for her teammate. “Who’s it from?”

“They didn’t sign it...” Weiss told her, still blushing as she sat back on her bed, looking down at the crumpled up piece of paper. As Yang sat on the edge of her bed, her legs dangling down in front of Blake, Ruby jumped off of her top bunk and sat beside her partner on her bed.

“Any ideas?” Ruby asked. Weiss shook her head.

“Maybe it’s from Jaune?” Yang suggested. “Or Neptune?” Weiss thought about it, before shaking her head.

“Jaune would probably be more direct.” She replied. “And Neptune and I agreed just to be friends.” The four girls thought about it. Even Blake put down her book to join in.

“What does it say?” The cat girl asked, pointing at the letter.

“Just that they’re probably not my type, and they’re embarrassed to admit that they’re in love with me...” Weiss explained, blushing again as she repeated it out loud. “I-It’s probably just a joke though, right? I mean, it’s a little cliché.” She added, trying not to get her hopes up.

“Maybe.” Blake told her. “Although maybe you should assume that it’s sincere, at least until you know who sent it.” She suggested, as Weiss sighed.

“Yeah, as far as we know, there’s somebody out there with a huge crush on you right now, and they’re just too scared to tell you how they feel!” Ruby exclaimed rather excitedly. 

“We have to get to the bottom of this! For the sake of melting the ice queen’s frozen heart!”

Yang and Blake snickered, and Weiss rolled her eyes, but Ruby still caught a glimpse of a smirk on her face. She looked back down at the letter, then back up at her teammates.

“Do any of you know who it was?” She asked. They all shook their heads. “Great. Then I guess I’ll just have to wait until they make another move... IF, they make another move...” She added. The four sat in silence for a few seconds, before Yang spoke up.

“Hey, so since somebody has a crush on Weiss, I’m curious; do any of you guys have crushes?” Yang inquired, looking around the room at her teammates reaction.

“No...” Blake lied.

“That’s absurd!” Weiss exclaimed, blushing again.

“What? No! Yang, c’mon sis! Don’t be silly...” The three turned to look over at Ruby, who realised that perhaps she’d been a little too defensive. 

“Got something you wanna admit to Rubes?” Her big sister asked. Ruby’s face was glowing as red as her cape, and she looked uncomfortable.

“No... I just, erm... Weiss and Blake are lying!” Ruby yelled, drawing attention away from herself and making the two girl’s blush. “Well, I know Blake is. She told me last week she likes somebody! I don’t know who though...” Ruby added, as Blake scowled up at her team leader. Yang looked down from her bunk at the cat Faunus.

“Is that so?” Yang smirked at the amber eyed girl. Blake sighed, as Ruby gave her an apologetic look from across the room. “You gonna tell, us who?” The blonde asked her.

“Only if Ruby does too.” She replied, giving Ruby a sarcastic smile. Ruby pouted crossing her arms across her chest.

“Absolutely not!” Ruby shouted.

“Stop shouting Ruby!” Weiss told her, clearly annoyed and not wanting to continue with the conversation. The younger girl apologised, looking sad, as Yang and Blake continued their conversation.

“How about this; if you tell me who you like, I’ll tell you who I like.” Yang suggested to Blake, wiggling her eyebrows. The Faunus thought for a second, before nodding her head.

“Deal. You first though.” She told her. Yang rolled her eyes.

“Fine...” Yang replied, sighing. “The person I like is Coco.”

“Coco Adel? Really?” Blake asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise. “I suppose she’s quite hot, and exactly your type I imagine.” The cat girl chuckled. She could just picture the two girls going out, not to mention how everybody would react to the news that the two hottest students at Beacon were an item, if they actually did get together that is.

“I had no idea that you, you know, liked girls...” Weiss commented. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that!” She quickly added. 

Since Weiss was from Atlas, she always tried to make it a point to let people know that she wasn’t as intolerant as many of the people in that kingdom were, her own father included, who particularly despised the idea of same sex relationships. She sometimes came across as awkward because of it, but Yang knew that she only meant well, so she didn’t mind, smiling reassuring at the heiress.

“So, a deal’s a deal. Time to spill the beans, Blakey.” Yang told the cat Faunus. Blake sighed, really not wanting to say, but Yang had already told her.

“Alright, it’s... Ren...” The girl told them, blushing.

“You mean Lie Ren?” Ruby asked. Blake nodded.

“You two would be so cute!” Yang squealed, delighted at the thought of the pair dating.

“Wait, isn’t he going out with Nora?” Weiss asks. “Or at least, she likes him.”

“I think Nora’s into girl’s as well actually.” Yang told Weiss, looking over at her and winking. “Trust me, we can tell.” Yang added, jokingly of course. Weiss gave the blonde a sarcastic smile, as they conversation quickly turned to her and Ruby.

“So what about you two?” Blake asked. Ruby looked at Weiss, expecting her to talk first. The heiress, however, remained silent.

“Well... it’s getting late. We should probably get going to bed.” Ruby said, laughing anxiously as she climbed up into her own bed.

“It’s only half past nine...” Yang pointed out.

“You said it sis! G’night!” Ruby told her teammates, curling up in her top bunk under the covers.

“Actually, I wanted to hit the gym early tomorrow morning, so I’m gonna turn in too.” Yang told her team, as she also got back into bed. “What about you two?”

“I might as well sleep if you guys are.” Weiss replied. “Plus, I am kind of tired.”

“Well I’m not going to be the only one awake.” Blake told them.

The four all got ready for bed, with Ruby already having dozed off, while Blake put her ribbon on her bedside table, preferring to sleep with her cat ears free before using the bathroom before bed. Yang slipped under the sheets, already in her pyjamas. She looked over at Weiss, seeing the girl already lying in bed.

“Hey, Weiss?” Yang called out now that it was just the two of them.

“Yeah?” Weiss asked, already sounding a little sleepy too.

“I know we joked, but if you ever need any help or dating advice...” Yang trailed off, but Weiss got the jist of what she was saying.

“Thank, Yang...” Weiss said, looking back over her shoulder at the blonde, who winked down at her. “Maybe I can help you improve your grades in return?” She offer, chuckling at herself.

“Hey!” Yang protested, grinning. “Just so you know, this interview will continue after I get back from the gym tomorrow morning.” She added, giving Weiss a wink, before rolling over and trying to get to sleep.

As soon as Blake came back out of the bathroom, the girls all wished each other goodnight, before the cat girl turned the light off, and each of them were left in darkness with nothing besides their thoughts. For Blake, that was of Ren, and for Yang, it was of Coco. For Weiss, it was wondering who had sent the letter, assuming it was serious that is, as well as her own secret crush that she wished she didn’t have feelings for, but she simply couldn’t help it.

Ruby’s thoughts, however, were much more conflicted. It was difficult enough to have just one crush, but especially so now that she knew that Blake liked someone else.


	2. Coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team RWBY go out for coffee. Yang arranges to go out with Coco, and Weiss learns who Ruby has a crush on.

“I don’t see why we couldn’t just get lunch at school.” Weiss stated, as she, Blake and Ruby headed into Vale from Beacon. “It’s closer to the library, so we would waste less time travelling here and back; time that could be spent studying.”

“It’s only a fifteen minute walk.” Blake pointed out. “Besides, Yang asked us to meet her in town for coffee after she left the gym.”

“I don’t see what’s wrong with the gym at Beacon. It’s far more convenient.” Weiss argued.

“Apparently she got a year membership.” Ruby told them. “It costs as much to cancel as it would to keep paying it, so she figured if she has to pay it anyway, she might as well use it.”

The silver eyed girl finished explaining as the three girl’s headed into the cafe that they’d agreed to meet Yang at. They walked in, and saw their blonde teammate sitting alone at a table for four, staring across the room as she waited for the rest of her team.

“Hey Yang!” Ruby called out, startling her sister a little as she got her attention.

“Oh, er, hey guys!” Yang looked up, smiling at them.

“Are you okay?” Blake asked, looking around to see what Yang could possibly have been so fixated on across the room. She immediately saw two familiar faces; Coco and Velvet of team CFVY, sitting together at a table at the other side of the cafe.

“Are you going to talk to her?” Weiss asked, looking over at the two brunette’s.

“I really don’t wanna disturb them...” Yang replied.

“Nonsense.” Weiss told her. 

Before Yang could protest, she was taken by the wrist by the heiress, who practically dragged her across the room to talk to the girl she’d already admitted to having a crush on. Upon seeing the two girl’s heading their way, Coco put down her cappuccino and sat back in her seat.

“Hello ladies.” Coco told the two girl’s, as smooth as ever, smiling as she looked at them through her sunglasses. Yang blushed a little, but tried to play it cool.

“Hey, Coco.” She replied, giving a slight smile towards the fashionista.

“Hi...” Velvet spoke rather shyly, smiling sweetly up at Weiss and Yang as she sipped her hot chocolate.

“So, what’s up?” Coco asked, wondering why the two girl’s had come over to talk to her and Velvet. They got along with team RWBY, sure, but never really hung out together. Yang froze, trying desperately to think of a reason to explain her intrusion, when Weiss suddenly spoke up instead.

“Yang got four free tickets to a movie, and we wanted to invite you two along, if you would care to join us.” Weiss lied. The pair seemed to think, with Coco looking over at Velvet and getting an enthusiastic smile of approval, before responding to the offer.

“Sure, why not? Although if you got four free tickets, why not invite your teammates?” Coco replied as she took a drink from her cup. “Not that e don’t appreciate it.” She quickly added.

“Ruby and Blake are busy that day.” Yang explained.

“I see.” Coco replied. “When is it?” She asked. Yang panicked, having to go along with Weiss’s lie.

“Tomorrow.” She told her. “’ll have to check the time though.” She told the girl.

“Cool. Here’s my scroll number, so you can let me know” Coco told Yang, giving her the number to her scroll so that she could contact her about the time.

“Alright, thanks!” Yang thanked her, before hurrying back to Ruby and Blake, who were sitting at the table. Coco smiled after her, before taking another sip from her drink.

“See you tomorrow Weiss!” Velvet called after the heiress, as she nodded back at her, before joining the rest of her team as well. Weiss got back to the table, seeing Ruby sitting in silence, while Blake tried to comfort Yang, who had her head in her hands, face bright red. 

“I was so awkward!” Yang groaned. “Thanks for trying though Weiss. That meant a lot.”

“You were fine.” Weiss assured her. “You got her scroll number AND a first date. I’d say that you’re doing pretty well so far.” The girl continued. 

“Is it still a date if the other person doesn’t know that it’s a date?” Ruby asked, snickering.

“Silence you dolt! Don’t ruin this for me!” Weiss snapped, half jokingly, making her teammates chuckle in amusement.

“Alright, Blake, let’s get the drinks.” She told the cat Faunus, before pointing at Weiss, then Ruby. “Latte? Hot chocolate?” She asked. Both girl’s nodded, smiling, as she and Blake headed up to the counter.

“So, any progress with figuring out the anonymous letter?” Ruby asked Weiss.

“Not since you asked me five minutes before we left our dorm, and I’ve been with you the whole time since then.” Weiss replied, chuckling to herself, as Ruby nodded and looked down at her feet. “Ruby, are you alright? You seem distracted...” Weiss inquired, expressing genuine concern for her teammate and friend.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She replied with a forced smile. “It’s just all this talk about crushes, and dating and stuff, I’ve just been thinking...”

“About your crush?” Weiss asked. Ruby blushed, nodding.

“Weiss, what would you do if you found out that the person that you liked actually liked somebody else?” Ruby asked, fidgeting awkwardly.

“I don’t know.” Weiss told her, frowning. She assumed that this was the case with Ruby’s crush, and so thought before giving her an answer. “I suppose I’d tell the person, and let them choose. They at least deserve to know that you like them, so that they can make a fully informed choice between the two of you.” Weiss reasoned. She’d never actually dated anybody before, but it sounded like good advice. Ruby nodded in response.

“I see...” Ruby replied, as Weiss thought. Ruby was only bringing this up after last night, so she must have only just found out that the person she liked had a crush on somebody else last night. Seeing as how Yang was her sister, that only left...

“Ruby, you like Blake, don’t you?” Weiss asked. Ruby looked up at Weiss, wide eyed a pale faced.

“How did you...” She began, before going through the same process that Weiss had in her head and realising how she had figured it out. “Alright, yes! I like her...” Ruby admitted, putting her face in the table, warm with embarrassment at being caught out. “What should I do? She would make such a perfect couple with Ren, but I really really REALLY like her!” Weiss sighed.

“I don’t know what to tell you Ruby.” The white haired girl told her. “Like I said, just tell Blake how you feel, and let her make her decision based on that.” The girl told her friend, putting a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

“Thanks Weiss.” Ruby smiled up at her. “You’re the best!”

“It was no problem, Ruby.” Weiss replied, looking down at the girl with her head on the table. “No sit up properly!” The Schnee snapped, prompting Ruby to quickly sit up straight.

Weiss chuckled in amusement, as Ruby smiled, but still looked a bit uncomfortable, presumably at Weiss figuring out her crush.

“Look, Ruby, if it makes you feel any better... I’ll tell you who it is that I like...” Weiss told her, blushing as well and lowering her voice at the last bit. Ruby smiled, knowing that knowing who Weiss liked would probably make her feel better, or at least a bit more secure.

“Only if you’re sure about it.” She told Weiss, not wanting to put too much pressure on her.

“I am.” She told Ruby, before switching to a deadly serious tone. “But you have to promise me that you will never, ever, EVER, tell anybody this , no matter what!”

“Sure!” Ruby chirped cheerily.

“I’m serious Ruby.” Weiss told her in an almost pleading tone. “You don’t understand how bad it will be for me if anybody finds out who it is I like.” The heiress explained, looking a little nervous about telling Ruby, especially since she wasn’t exactly Remnant’s best keeper of secrets.

“Weiss, you don’t have to say if you don’t want to...” Ruby told her, thinking that she was having second thoughts. Weiss shook her head.

“It’s fine.” She assured Ruby, taking a deep breath before continuing. “Alright, the person I like is...”

“Hey guys!” Yang called over to them, as she and Blake placed the four cups on the table; a hot chocolate for Ruby, a latte for Weiss and Blake, and a cappuccino for Yang.

“Thanks Blake!” Ruby told Blake, as she received her hot chocolate. She smiled sweetly up at the cat girl, seeing that she had put extra whipped cream and marshmallows on it just for her. Blake smiled back, before sitting back down, not really thinking anything of it.

“Sorry, were we interrupting something?” Yang asked.

“No! Not at all...” Weiss lied.

“Yeah, nothing!” Ruby added, backing Weiss up. The heiress gave her a slight smile of appreciation, planning to tell her later anyway. Yang frowned, suspecting they were lying, but brushing it off.

“Anyway, Blake and I just made a bet!” She told them, grinning almost wickedly.

“A bet?” Weiss asked. The pair nodded.

“More of a competition. Yang's idea.” Blake clarified. “To see which one of us gets a date with our crush first.” She explained.

“Right...” Ruby spoke, nodding. The four talked with each other for a while, until they’d all finished their drinks, and paid the bill.

“So, should we go back to Beacon for something to eat now?” Yang suggested.

“So we are going back to Beacon for lunch!? After all of that...” Weiss exclaimed, making Ruby and Blake giggle in amusement, while Yang stood confused, having not been involved in the conversation earlier.

“Sure. I’ll explain on the way back, Yang.” Ruby told her sister, as the four girl’s headed back to Beacon.


	3. One down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Romance blossoms when team RWBY have lunch with team JNPR

The four girl’s of team RWBY wandered around the cafeteria with their trays of food in their hands to find a place to sit. Being one of the four academies, the food at Beacon was far from the usual school meal slop; only the best was suitable for the defenders of the kingdoms.

“Hey girl’s, over here!” A voice called out. The four girl’s turned to see the peppy ginger hammer wielder of team JNPR waving them over.

The four sat opposite the other team, with Ruby facing Jaune, Weiss facing Pyrrha, and Yang making sure that Blake was opposite Ren, while she herself sat opposite Nora.

“Hey guys!” Ruby beamed, delighted to see team JNPR.

“Hello Ruby.” Pyrrha greeted her with a smile.

The eight of them all began to eat, mostly making small talk considering that they were all in the middle of their dinner, and had their mouths full for the most part. As they eventually neared the end of their meals, the conversation began to pick up a bit. Ruby was listening to Pyrrha tell her how Jaune’s training was coming along, while Nora babbled on about another one of her dreams, with Yang being the only one listening. Blake, Ren and Weiss all sat in silence, until Nora actually stopped to take a breath. Yang elbowed Blake in the ribs, earning an annoyed grunt from her, turning to see what the blonde wanted.

“You gonna ask him now?” She asked, winking at Blake and nodding over at Ren.

“Here? Now?” Blake asked, looking around. She didn’t want to ask him in front of all their friends, making it especially embarrassing is he said no as she expected him to.

“Why not?” Yang asked her. However, before Blake could respond, Weiss – who had been listening in on their conversation – interrupted.

“Now might not be the best time.” She told Blake and Yang, as they both turned to look at her. “I just mean, maybe you should wait and see if anything happens. Besides, you want some privacy when you ask him, don’t you?” Weiss told her, thinking of Ruby. She knew that Blake already liked Ren, and might not even like girls at all, but she thought that she should at least know how Ruby felt about her before making her final decision.

“I guess you’re right, Weiss.” Blake told her. Yang gave a disappointed look, before shrugging it off, turning to team JNPR.

“So, we were talking about crushes last night.” She told them, earning an eye roll from the rest of her team about Yang’s recent obsession with the topic. “Any of you have any?” She asked them.

“Well, you all know who I like...” Jaune replied, as he winked at Weiss. The heiress gave an almost disgusted look, much to the boy’s dismay, as Pyrrha put her hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry Jaune. I’m sure the right girl for you is just around the corner.” She told him, smiling reassuringly. Jaune nodded.

“Thanks Pyrrha.” He told her.

“Oh! I bet it was Jaune!” Ruby exclaimed excitedly to Weiss.

“You bet what was me?” Jaune asked.

“The letter! You sent it, right?” Ruby asked, earning a furious glare from Weiss.

“Ruby! That’s a private matter!” Weiss snapped, before quieting her voice.

“I-I’m sorry, I was only trying to help...” Ruby told her, looking hurt that her good intentions had annoyed her best friend yet again. Weiss sighed.

“No, I’m sorry Ruby.” Weiss told the girl. “I’d just rather not think about that right now...” She told her.

“Woah, who are you and what have you done with the ice queen?” Yang asked, earning herself a glare from the ‘ice queen’.

“Back up a second; what’s this about a letter?” Jaune asked, looking confused. Ruby bit her lip and looked over at Weiss, who sighed before answering.

“Last night, someone posted a, well, I guess sort of a ‘love letter’ addressed to me under our dorm room door, but we don’t know who it was.” Weiss told them.

“Oh, that was Ren!” Nora stated. All eyes fell on her, as she looked around at them wondering what she had said as she looked at Ren. “Remember? You said you had to take care of something, left the room with a letter, came back about twenty seconds later without it, and team RWBY’s dorm is right opposite ours.”

“What!?” Yang exclaimed, standing up and slamming her hands on the table in surprise.

“What...” Blake stayed seated, upset that her crush had feelings for another girl, and especially since that just so happened to be a close friend of hers.

“Ren, YOU posted the letter!?” Weiss asked him. Ren looked up at her, before nodding.

“I posted it, yes... but I didn’t write it.” He told her.

“Wait, what are you saying?” Yang asked, sitting down. Ren hesitated, sighing.

“A friend asked me to post it.” He told them. “They told me they have a crush on Weiss, but begged me not to tell her or anybody else who they were.” He explained.

“Who is it!?” Ruby squealed, a little too excitedly.

“I just told you, I can’t say!” Ren replied.

“Please, Ren, tell me?” Weiss asked him pleadingly. Ren sighed.

“I swore that I wouldn’t tell anybody who they are, no matter what.” He explained. “I can try to ask them to reveal themselves of their own accord if you like, but I will not break my promise.” He told Weiss. The RWBY girl’s all sighed, knowing just how seriously Ren took his honour.

“Anyway, since you don’t like Weiss, do you have a crush on anybody?” Yang asked Ren, with Blake a little relieved that her crush in fact didn’t like Weiss. Ren shook his head. “Well, what if you found out that somebody has a crush on you?” The blonde added, wiggling her eyebrows and seeing Blake blushing form the corner of her eye. Ren shrugged.

“Depends who it was.” He told her.

“What if it was-OW!” Yang was cut off when Blake elbowed her hard in the ribs. “What was that for?” She asked her. Blake looked between Ren and Yang, her face bright red.

“Sorry. Accident.” She lied, neither of them buying it. Nora giggled, realising what had happened before the rest of her team.

“Ren, Blake likes you!” She squealed excitedly. Ren frowned at her, about to dispute her statement, before looking over at Blake and seeing the cat Faunus obviously avoiding eye contact with him.

“Is that true?” He asked her. The entire table was silent, awaiting Blake’s response.

“...yes.” She confessed, looking down in embarrassment before turning to Yang. “Thanks, Yang. Way to give me some privacy!”

“Sorry...” Yang told her, looking between her partner and Ren. “Look on the bright side; at least you don’t have to be worried about asking him yourself now, eh?” She told her, trying to make the best of the situation and cheer Blake up. Blake glared up at Yang, about to argue with her when Ren spoke.

“She’s right.” He told Blake. All eyes fell on him as he continued. “You don’t need to worry. I’d quite like to go out with you sometime, if that’s alright with you Blake?” He asked, calm and composed, not at all embarrassed or nervous about asking her out.

“Me?” Blake asked, struggling to believe her ears. Yang and Nora both rolled their eyes.

“No, the other Blake.” Yang remarked sarcastically. “Say yes!” She told her partner. Blake looked up at Ren, a huge grin spreading across her face.

“...yes!” She replied, blushing as she almost dove across the table to wrap her arms around the man. Ren chuckled, as he returned the hug, and the rest of their teams cheered and applauded, as well as a few students who were sitting near them, while most others just looked confused. Weiss took the opportunity to look over at Ruby, who was smiling sincerely.

“Are you ok?” She asked her. Ruby nodded.

“Yeah, I’m happy for them!” She told Weiss, genuinely happy for her two friends finding happiness in each other.

“You should still tell her.” Weiss said. “If for no other reason than to make you feel better.” Ruby shook her head.

“I don’t want to ruin this for them.” She told her. Weiss smiled at the young girl’s maturity, as the rest of their friends settled down, with Blake returning to her seat, quickly composing herself.

“Well, that was certainly exciting.” Pyrrha remarked, as Nora hugged Ren.

“OH! I’m so happy for you! You make such a cute couple!” The excitable ginger girl squealed.

“You know Nora, Weiss thought you actually had a crush on Ren!” Yang told her. The girl burst out laughing, along with the rest of her team.

“What?” Weiss exclaimed.

“Ren and Nora!?” Jaune laughed.

“Opposite’s don’t always necessarily attract, Weiss.” Pyrrha told her, not seeing the irony considering her semblance.

“They’re certainly close...” Weiss stated, defending herself.

“Maybe I would, if I were into guys.” Nora told the white haired girl, before realising what she’d said. “I mean, no offence. I know you don’t exactly approve of that...” Nora added.

“Actually Nora, Weiss isn’t like most people from Atlas.” Yang told her, defending her teammate.

“Oops! Sorry Weiss!” Nora exclaimed.

“It’s fine...” Weiss told her, looking a little ashamed of her heritage, and that even her close friends would think of her as being just like her father. Nora seemed to feel bad throughout the awkward silence, until Yang spoke up.

“So, who DO you like, Nora?” The blonde asked her, quickly changing the subject, to everybody’s relief.

“Nobody at the moment...” Nora replied. “I guess I just don’t fall in love much... or I just love EVERYBODY!” The hyper girl exclaimed, startling most of the rest of the table.

“....okay, how about you Pyrrha?” Yang asked, giving Nora a questionable look, getting nothing but a cheeky grin in response.

“Me? Oh, nobody...” Pyrrha told Yang, although Yang had a skill for being able to tell when somebody was lying, and raised an eyebrow. Pyrrha sighed. “Okay, somebody... but I can’t say who.”

“Can’t?” Yang asked. Pyrrha nodded.

“That’s right... you’d understand if you knew who it was, but like I said, I can’t say.” She repeated herself to Yang. The blonde girl gave her a funny look, but brushed it off.

The eight of them went on talking for a while, with Ren and Blake on the end of the row becoming somewhat separated as they talked to each other.

“So, do you want to go on a date?” Ren asked. “Sorry, I’m new to this. I’ve actually never dated anybody before.” He admitted with a slight laugh. Blake smiled.

“That’s alright, I’ve only ever...” Blake began, before remembering her ex, Adam. “Yeah, I’ve never dated anybody either.” She lied. Ren acted as though he wasn’t suspicious, not wanting to pressure Blake into talking about something she didn’t want to.

“Well, there’s a movie on tonight, if you’re interested?” He asked her. “And then maybe we could go into town to get something to eat?” He added, seemingly unsure of himself.

“That sounds lovely.” Blake told him, smiling in happiness. Ren really was the perfect partner for her.

Meanwhile, the rest of teams RWBY and JNPR were talking to each other, although one person that remained relatively silent was Ruby. The silver eyed girl gazed longingly down the table at the cat Faunus, who was talking to her new boyfriend, not knowing that Pyrrha had quickly cottoned on to what was bothering her, but didn’t say anything.

“Well, we should get going.” Yang told team JNPR as she, Ruby and Weiss all stood up from the table. “Weiss is making us all study before the test next week.” She explained.

“On a Saturday?” Jaune remarked. “That’s harsh even for you, snow angel.” He told her, trying and failing to flirt at the same time. Weiss was about to say something, when Pyrrha spoke first.

“I agree. You do all need time to relax as well.” The redhead reminded them. “Besides, I’m not sure you would be able to concentrate if you tried to study.” Pyrrha told Weiss.

“For the record, I’ve lost all interest in that ridiculous letter!” Weiss stated.

“Oh really? You’ve been fiddling with it for the past few minutes.” Pyrrha pointed out. Looking down at her hand, Weiss only just realised that she was holding the screwed up ball of paper that Pyrrha must have deduced was the letter. Sighing, she shoved it back in her pocket.

“Fine! I suppose one day of couldn’t hurt...” The heiress gave in, as Ruby and Yang cheered in unison.

“YES! What should we do on our day off?” Ruby asked her older sister. Yang thought, before answering.

“Video games? Shopping? No, drinking!” Yang suggested with a grin, as Ruby rolled her eyes.

“Why don’t we all go to that new arcade that just opened up?” Jaune suggested.

“That... actually is a good idea.” Yang told him.

“Wait, what do you mean by that?” Jaune asked.

“Sounds like fun to me!” Pyrrha told them, while Nora cheered.

“I suppose it couldn’t hurt.” Weiss commented.

“Are you two coming?” Yang asked Blake and Ren, as the other six stood up from the table.

“Maybe another time.” Ren told her. Yang shrugged, as she, Ruby and the other three members of team JNPR made to leave Beacon for the second time that day, while Weiss stayed back for a few minutes.

“Blake?” Weiss asked, interrupting hers and Ren’s conversation. “Sorry, but could I please talk to Ren for a second?” She asked.

“But I just got him!” Blake exclaimed, reaching across the table and clutching onto her boyfriend, before realising that her reaction had been somewhat dramatic. “I mean... sure... if that’s alright with him?” Ren chuckled.

“I’ll be right back.” He promised, as he followed Weiss to another part of the long table that was a little more secluded.

“I presume you know what this is about?” Weiss told him. Ren shrugged, and Weiss sighed. “The letter? Please just tell me who sent it!” The heiress urged him. Ren sighed.

“I’d like to, but I promised that I wouldn’t. Breaking that promise would be a breach of trust.” Ren declared, causing Weiss to groan in frustration.

“Okay, so you don’t want to tell me who sent it, that’s fine.” Weiss told him, calming herself a little. “But could you at least tell whoever sent it to let me know who they are?”

“I told you that I’ll talk to them, but if they don’t want to reveal themselves, then I’m not going to force them to.” Ren told the girl. 

“Alright, fine. Thanks... I guess...” Weiss told him, before hurrying off to catch up with the other five that were heading out of the school. Ren went to take a seat opposite Blake, but the cat Faunus stood up and walked around the table, and so the two left the emptying cafeteria.

“What was that about?” Blake asked.

“She just wanted to know about the letter.” Ren replied. Blake grinned.

“Come on! You can tell me! We’re dating now!” Blake pleaded, finding herself more interested in all this business than she thought she would have been. Ren sighed.

“All I can say is that SHE doesn’t want to make herself known.” Ren told her. Blake gasped, upon hearing that Weiss Schnee’s secret admirer was female, as she and her boyfriend walked along side by side.


	4. The Arcade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At the arcade, Pyrrha reveals who her crush is, Ruby moves on from Blake, and Weiss may have discovered who wrote her that love letter.

“Yes! You lose again sis!” Yang exclaimed, grinning upon beating her sister on the arcade game they had been playing.

“Yeah, nice one Yang...” Ruby told her sister, smiling up at her, masking her true feelings as she thought about what Blake was doing right now with Ren.

“Alright Nora; you’re next!” Yang cried, pointing at Nora.

“Bring it on!” The ginger girl yelled with a grin, as she joined Yang.

Meanwhile, Ruby wandered around the arcade, not really enjoying herself as much as she usually did in these sorts of places. The old arcade that she usually went to had nothing on this one; better games, better food and drinks, and it was a lot closer to Beacon for convenience. Nevertheless, Ruby couldn’t help but feel sorry for herself as she wandered around, until she felt somebody put their hand on her shoulder.

“Ruby, is everything alright?” Pyrrha asked her. Ruby smiled up at the redhead. Pyrrha was someone she could trust, right? Surely she could confess to her what had her so upset. Almost anybody else and she would have been too embarrassed, but Pyrrha always seemed to know exactly what to say to make people feel better.

“Yes, I’m... no, it’s not!” Ruby confessed, crossing her arms. Pyrrha ushered Ruby over to a two seated table, where they sat, figuring they could get some drinks. Pyrrha ordered two slush puppies for her and Ruby, even being kind enough to pay for Ruby’s before they continued their conversation.

“Forgive me if this is out of line, but is this about Blake?” Pyrrha asked. Ruby looked up, shocked.

“How does everybody know!?” She asked her. Pyrrha couldn’t help but giggle at the innocent girl’s reaction.

“I saw how you reacted. I think you did the right thing by not saying anything. That was very honourable of you.” Pyrrha told her friend.

“Weiss told me that I should tell Blake how I feel anyway, as if that would make a difference...” Ruby told Pyrrha.

“I’m not sure that would help.” Pyrrha admitted. “I’m afraid that I don’t have all the answers, but it seems to me that if you truly do care about Blake, you’ll let her be happy. Then again, if your feelings are too strong... perhaps just let things take their course for the time being?” The emerald eyed girl suggested. Ruby nodded.

“It’s just... I want to be happy for them, I really do! They’re both my friends, and I want them to be happy, I just... why can’t she be happy with me?” Ruby asked, her eyes beginning to tear up a little. Pyrrha kindly took a napkin, dabbing the girl’s silver eyes as she tried not to cry in public. 

“Blake cares about you in a different way.” Pyrrha explained. “Like how you care about Weiss, or Jaune; you love them as your friends. That’s how Blake loves you.” Pyrrha assured the girl.

“But I want her to feel the same way about me that I feel about her!” Ruby stated, before sighing. “I’m being so selfish, I know... just stupid and selfish...”

“Don’t say that!” Pyrrha told Ruby, taking her hands in hers. “Ruby Rose, you are smart, and kind, and funny, and beautiful, and anybody man or woman would be the luckiest person alive to have you as their girlfriend!” Pyrrha assured the younger girl, gazing into her big silver eyes, getting lost in their beauty for a few second, before Ruby spoke.

“Pyrrha...” Ruby’s voice was soft, as she began to realise what Pyrrha was thinking. The older girl blushed, realising that she had said too much, but the damage was already done.

“I’m sorry...” Pyrrha whispered, making to leave, but this time it was Ruby who grabbed Pyrrha’s hands, forcing her to stay.

“Pyrrha, was the reason that you couldn’t tell Yang who you had a crush on because... she’s her sister?” Ruby asked. Pyrrha’s face turned the same shade as her hair, as she slowly nodded. Realisation dawned on Ruby’s face upon learning that Pyrrha Nikos – the invincible girl, the girl that she respected, admired, aspired to be like – had a crush in her.

“I understand if you don’t feel the same way...” Pyrrha muttered, looking down as she refused to meet Ruby’s gaze.

“I... don’t know how I feel...” Ruby admitted. “I’m sorry, it’s just, with Blake getting with Ren and now this, it’s a lot, you know?” She asked. Pyrrha nodded in understanding, as Ruby refused to let go of her hands. “That’s not to say that something might not happen in the future though. I mean, I do really like you... love you, even...” Ruby admitted.

“I understand Ruby.” Pyrrha said. “You can take all the time you need.” Ruby smiled, thanking Pyrrha, just as their slush puppies arrived. Pyrrha slowly sipped hers, but Ruby – not paying attention to the world around her – began to chug it down, before stopping all of a sudden and screwing up her face.

“Agh! Brain freeze!” She squealed, making a face that made Pyrrha laugh, as the two sat opposite one another. Pyrrha hadn’t initially planned on confessing so much to Ruby, but it had still gone better than she ever expected. She just hoped that she could come to feel the same way about her as she did about Ruby.

Meanwhile, across the arcade, Yang and Nora headed to the bar to get a drink, after the blonde easily defeated yet another opponent on that same video game, as well as having achieved the all time high score on that machine.

“I am the best!” Yang told Nora, as they joined Jaune and Weiss sitting at a table with their drinks.

“That’s only because this place just opened up, and we’re like the eighth people to play that machine!” Nora told her. “Trust me, your score will be beaten within a week!”

“Whatever, loser.” Yang remarked. “The point is, I ant he undefeated champion!” Yang declared, raising her hands in victory, not seeing another Beacon student approaching them from behind.

“Looks like you’re celebrating a victory here.” Coco remarked with a grin, as she joined Yang and her friends at their table. “Do you mind?” She asked, before she sat down. They all gestured for her to take a seat, which she did, right between Yang and Weiss.

“Hey, Coco...” Yang muttered, lowering her arms and blushing a little at how silly she must have looked.

“We must stop meeting like this.” Coco joked, chuckling along with Yang and Weiss. “Velvet headed back to school to study. I figured I’d check out this place since it’s new, and see if anybody else was doing the same.” The brunette explained.

“Well, we’re just hanging out, kicking ass, beating everybody at the games. Well, I am anyway.” Yang gloated, not so subtly showing off to her crush. 

“Atta girl!” Coco grinned, as she and Yang fist bumped. The blonde tried to play it cool, not making it too obvious that she had a huge crush on the brunette girl, although everybody else on the table knew anyway, with her and Weiss having told Jaune, Nora and even Pyrrha on their way to the arcade.

“So Coco.” “Nora began, grinning cheekily at Yang. “We were talking about it earlier; do you like anybody?” The ginger girl asked, earning her a threatening glare from Yang.

“I don’t really do the whole ‘crushes’ thing.” Coco replied. “It’s more like people have crushes on me, you know what I mean?” She asked with a smirk.

“You have no idea...” Yang muttered under her breath so that Coco couldn’t hear, as she took a sip from her beverage. 

“I take it from your asking that you all do?” Coco inquired, looking between the four of them.

“Not me!” Nora declared proudly, while the other three nodded. “That’s not all. Someone has a crush on Weiss too, and they sent her this love letter!” Nora squealed in excitement as she showed Coco the letter.

“When did you...” Weiss began, searching her pockets, not having noticed that Nora snatched her letter from her at some point, she didn’t know when. Weiss was so busy considering when Nora might have taken her letter that she didn’t notice the uncomfortable look on Coco’s face upon seeing the letter.

“Wow, that is kinda weird...” Coco stated once she read the whole letter rather quickly. “I guess whoever wrote this wants to remain anonymous for the time being. Maybe you should wait for them to come forward rather than look for who it is.” The brunette suggested to Weiss, looking uncharacteristically uncomfortable.

“Are you ok?” Jaune asked.

“I’m fine.” Coco told him. “I just remembered something. I’ll see you guys around though! Oh, and remember to let me know about that movie!” Coco called back to the four, as she headed out of the arcade. The four of them sat in silence for a few seconds, stunned, until Yang spoke.

“Wait... what?” She asked.

“Do you think... Coco couldn’t have written the letter, could she?” Jaune asked Weiss. The heiress thought, before shaking her head.

“She said it herself, she’s not the type to have crushes.” Weiss pointed out.

“But the ways she reacted...” Nora commented. “She looked like she recognised the letter. Plus, she acted all awkward when I brought it up, and she’s like, the coolest person ever!” The ginger girl added.

“It does seem suspicious...” Jaune remarked.

“No, it can’t be true.” Weiss told them. “She would have said something rather than leave us wondering, right Yang?” Weiss asked.

“Yeah, I agree with Weiss.” Yang commented. 

“You’re only saying that because you have a crush on Coco yourself.” Nora told the blonde, earning yet another annoyed scowl.

“Calm down.” Weiss told the pair, taking a breath before continuing. “Whether it was Coco who wrote the letter or not, she was right; I should just wait for whoever it is to come forward, whether it’s her or somebody else.” Weiss told them, as the three nodded in unison.

“Maybe she reacted like that because she knows who did write the letter?” Yang suggested.

“Or maybe Coco does like you, and was just jealous that somebody else does too?” Jaune suggested.

“Or maybe...” Nora began, before Weiss interrupted. 

“Ok! I get the idea! There’s a lot of possibilities!” Weiss told them. “Like I said, we’ll wait and see.”

The four finished their drinks, and were about to look for Ruby and Pyrrha, when yang’s scroll vibrated in her pocket with a message from her sister.

“It’s Ruby.” She told them. “She says she and Pyrrha are staying for a while in case we want to head back.”

“Do we?” Weiss asked them. Yang shrugged.

“We can stay a little longer, right?” The other three agreed. “Alright, well we might as well go find them anyway, since we’re all staying.”

“I’m sure they’re fine!” Nora assured Yang.

“Yeah, best not disturb them if they might be busy.” Jaune added. Jaune and Nora both knew about Pyrrha’s crush on Ruby, and how she was afraid of anybody finding out, most of all Yang, and they figured that since they were alone together, there was a pretty good chance that Pyrrha was asking Ruby out at this very moment.

Yang gave the pair a suspicious look, but shrugged it off, as the four of them headed back into the arcade. 

 

Ruby sat opposite Pyrrha, the two of them having moved on from talking about crushes and such for the time being, mostly talking about how their classes were coming along, with Ruby inquiring as to how Jaune was doing in his one on one training with Pyrrha. The two redheads continued talking, until Ruby saw a familiar face walk by them.

Pyrrha followed Ruby’s gaze, spotting a dark skinned girl with mint green hair and crimson eyes walk in and sit down in one of the booths, along with a petite girl with pink and brown hair and matching eyes.

“You know them?” Pyrrha asked.

“She’s a friend of mine.” Ruby told Pyrrha, glancing back at Emerald to in fact see her smiling up at Ruby, motioning for the two redheads to join her and her teammate, Neo.

“Hey Ruby!” Emerald smiled up at her, as Ruby sat beside the green haired girl, and Pyrrha sat beside Neo. Both Ruby and Emerald made sure not to take any notice as Neo glared up at Pyrrha, who was over a foot taller than her.

“Hey Em. This is Pyrrha.” She introduced her.

“I’m familiar, Pyrrha Nikos.” Emerald said, shaking Pyrrha’s hand. “It’s kind of an honour to meet you ‘invincible girl’.” Emerald told her with a grin, making Pyrrha blush a little.

“You’re too kind.” She told her.

“Pyrrha, this is Emerald, and Neo.” Ruby introduced them. Emerald smiled again, and Neo squinted up at the girl, before giving a slight smile, deciding in her head to be nice to the newcomer.

“So, you guys decided to check out this new place just like everybody else today huh?” Emerald asked the pair.

“Yeah, we came with others, but decided to do our own thing. We’re kind of cool like that.” Ruby told Emerald, making her chuckle. “What about you two?”

“We were going to come as a team, but Mercury’s spending the day with his girlfriend, and Cinder’s.... Cinder. Not exactly one for unnecessary socialising, you know what I mean?” Emerald told Ruby.

“Am I to take that to mean that you haven’t told her yet?” Ruby asked Emerald, who shook her head. Seeing Pyrrha staring blankly in confusion, Emerald explained.

“I have kind of a crush on Cinder – my team leader.” She admitted. “The thing is... she’s straight, so I doubt she’d take it well if I told her.” Emerald explained.

“I see...” Pyrrha responded. Emerald blushed.

“Sorry, I don’t know why I told you that.” She told her, chuckling anxiously.

“What about you Neo?” Ruby asked. “Do you have a crush?”

Emerald opened her mouth to respond in Neo’s place, only for the petite girl to reach across the table and cover her teammate’s mouth, shaking her head in response to the question.

“Is that as yes?” Ruby asked, as Neo sat back in her seat. Neo thought, before nodding, although rather than embarrassed she seemed to see the humour in the situation, an adorable smirk plastered in her face.

“She won’t tell me who though.” Emerald told Ruby. The silver eyed girl nodded, as Emerald continued. “So, what about you two? Do either of you have crushes?” She asked.

“Well...” Pyrrha began awkwardly.

“Sort of...” Ruby responded, both girls looking embarrassed as Emerald looked between them.

“Are you on a date here?” She asked them.

“Not as such.” Pyrrha replied.

“Sort of a trial run, if you like.” Ruby explained. “Basically, I have a crush on Blake, but she started dating a guy this morning, but then Pyrrha had a crush on me, so I said we’ll wait and see what happens, but it’s been going well over the past few minutes and I think I’m ready to go out with her for real now...” Ruby explained very quickly, getting a little carried away and confessing a little too much. 

Emerald, Neo and especially Pyrrha all looked at Ruby wide eyed, as she realised what she had said and covered her mouth all too late.

“You want to... go out with me?” Pyrrha asked, making Ruby blush.

“Only if you do too...” She told her anxiously.

“Of course I do!” The green eyed girl exclaimed. “But, what about Blake?” Pyrrha asked. Ruby shrugged.

“I think I’ll get over her eventually.” She told Pyrrha. “Sorry, That’s probably not what you want to hear, but to be honest, I’ve gotten over crushes in the past, and if anything, being with you is only going to speed up the process I expect.” Ruby told her.

“So... we’re dating now?” Pyrrha asked.

“I think so...?” Ruby replied, although it was more of a question. Emerald sighed impatiently.

“Oh my God! Just hug and go out!” She told them, grinning. The two giggled, as they did what they were told, standing up from the booth and hugging each other. Emerald cheered, and Neo clapped her hands excitedly, both beaming in delight as they watched the two redheads hug.

“Thank you, Ruby.” Pyrrha told her, brushing the girl’s hair out of her eye. Ruby giggled.

“Thank you too!” She squealed, hugging the much taller girl tightly, before they both parted, blushing a sitting back down. However, Ruby clearly couldn’t contain her excitement, jumping up onto the table to address everybody around them.

“HEY EVERYBODY! I’M DATING PYRRHA NIKOS!” Ruby shouted at the top of her lungs, making Pyrrha blush in embarrassment, but she couldn’t help but smile too. Being pretty much a household name as a sort of celebrity, almost everybody knew who Pyrrha was, and so Ruby’s declaration was greeted with a roar of applause, cheers and whistles.

“You’re WHAT!?” Yang exclaimed.

Ruby looked down to see her sister, along with Weiss, Jaune and Nora approaching their table, all with shocked looks on their faces.

“Oh... hi Yang...” Ruby told her, blushing as she got down from the table, sitting back in the booth. Everybody else went back about their business, leaving the eight Beacon students to their conversation.

“So Pyrrha was your crush?” Yang asked.

“I, well... I mean, yeah sure!” Ruby replied, not wanting to get into the details of it right now. “I’m sorry Yang! Please don’t be mad!”

“Mad?” Yang asked, frowning. “Rubes, my little sister is dating PYRRHA NIKOS! I’m so proud of you, lady-killer!” She told her sister with a grin, hugging her tightly. Pyrrha smiled, relieved that Yang was accepting of their relationship.

“Nice one!” Nora whispered to Pyrrha, as she and Jaune smiled at her. Yang then turned to Pyrrha too, hugging her tightly just as she had her sister.

“What about Blake?” Weiss asked Ruby now that Yang wasn’t right there.

“I’ll get over hr soon.” Ruby assured Weiss.

“Alright, just make sure you know what you’re doing.” The heiress warned, Ruby gave her a smile and a nod, as they all slid into the booth, a little cramped, but just about fitting, with Emerald, Ruby, Yang and Weiss on one side, and Neo, Pyrrha, Jaune and Nora on the other side.

“This is fantastic!” Nora squealed, as the other seven agreed with her.

The eight students sat in the booth for a while, alternating between sitting, eating and drinking, and playing on the arcade machines, spending ridiculous amounts of lien, until it started to go dark outside, and they figured they should head back. It wasn’t particularly late, but being late autumn, it got darker earlier, and they didn’t want to walk back to Beacon when it got too dark. 

They all made their way back, and Weiss and Yang couldn’t help but think about Coco, both wondering if she had been the one to write the letter. Meanwhile, Ruby and Pyrrha held hands the whole time, with both of them ecstatic about their new relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Creative chapter title, don't you think?
> 
> So, for anybody wondering, I'm kind of planning to have Emerald, Cinder, Mercury and Neo not evil in this. They'll still have the same personalities and everything, but I'm not including the main RWBY plot in this, keeping it peaceful and everything. Anyway, I hope you're all enjoying this so far. I don't know how long this will go on for, but hopefully I'll be writing it for a while, as I have a lot of ideas and lots planned. Thanks for reading, and hope you look forward to the next chapter.


	5. Making Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake runs into and old friend when she and Ren are returning to Beacon, and Weiss finally confesses her crush to Ruby.

“Thank you.” Blake told Ren with a smile, blushing as he smiled back at her. “This might have been the best evening of my life.”

The two had watched a movie earlier that Ren had heard was a ‘must see’. Unfortunately, it had been a huge let down, full of badly written characters, clunky dialogue, poor acting and an overall badly written plot. The only silver lining really was that the two had a good time making fun of how bad the film had been over dinner at a restaurant. It wasn’t particularly expensive, but was more than Blake had expected on a first date.

“This was certainly the best evening of my life.” Ren told his new girlfriend, as the two walked down the street on their way back to Beacon. “It’s just as shame about the movie, otherwise this might have been perfect.” He added, smiling down at the cat girl.

“It was still perfect.” She told him, stopping walking. Ren was forced to stop too as Blake gripped his hand tighter, pulling herself up to him and planting a soft loving kiss on his lips.

The two broke the short kiss, both of them laughing as they continued walking. A little further down the street, Blake found herself so distracted by looking up at Ren that she hadn’t even realised that there was somebody right in front of her until she walked into them.

“Oof! I’m so sorry!” Blake told the poor girl that she’d just almost knocked over.

“It’s fine...” The girl responded, turning to girl the girl who had just walked into her a reassuring smile, before seeing who it was. “...Blake?” Blake looked back at the girl.

“Ilia?” Blake asked. Ren watched as the two girl embraced, hugging each other tightly.

“It’s been too long!” The unfamiliar girl, apparently named ‘Ilia’ exclaimed.

“I know!” Blake added. The hug finally broke, with the two girls smiling at each other and Ren standing off to the side rather awkwardly. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry! How rude of me! Ren, this is an old friend of mine form when I lived in Menagerie; Ilia Amitola.” Ren smiled at the girl, extending a hand, which Ilia shook returning the smile. Ren had heard Blake’s story before, about how she had lived in Menagerie, before she and her parents had moved to Vale for her to attend Beacon.

“So he knows about your... you know, that you’re a Faunus?” Ilia asked Blake, who nodded. “Right, so, how do you two know each other?” She asked.

“We’re actually coming back from our first date.” Ren told the girl, who looked simultaneously delighted for Blake, and also somewhat concerned.

“Blake, that’s... that’s wonderful!” Ilia told her. “You’re doing so well. Did you get into Beacon like you always wanted?” Blake nodded.

“That’s actually where I met Ren. He’s not on my team, but we were really good friends before we started going out.” She told Ilia. “Anyway, what are you doing here?”

“I’m here for the Vytal festival.” Ilia explained. “I got into Atlas! Can you believe it!?”

Ren watched as Blake once again hugged the girl. He had never seen the black haired girl to happy as she was now, and felt a little jealous at the attention that she was giving her old friend. Still, he didn’t know how well they knew each other, and didn’t want to seem like the bad guy by breaking them up. He let them have their moment, smiling at how happy Blake was.

“I’m so proud of you!” Blake told Ilia once the hug broke. “Are they treating you well?” She asked, concerned for her Faunus friend who was at a school that was famously discriminatory against the Faunus. Ironwoods had of course done everything within his power, going above and beyond in his efforts to achieve equality between humans and Faunus in Atlas, but he could only do so much, and as powerful as he was, couldn’t change people’s attitudes.

“They... they actually don’t know.” Ilia confessed. “I only got in because I could pass myself off as human.” Blake gave a saddened look. 

“...At least you’re there?” She said, trying to cheer her friend up. Ilia shrugged.

“I don’t mind pretending to be human. Besides, my teammates know, and they’re fine with it, they promised not to tell anybody, so it’s not all that bad.” Ilia explained.

“Sorry, what type of Faunus are you?” Ren asked, seeing as how Ilia didn’t seem to have any Faunus trait. Ilia smirked, and all of a sudden, her skin turned a bright red colour. Ren stepped back, startled by the girl’s sudden colour change.

“Ilia’s a chameleon Faunus.” Blake explained.

“But as long as I keep my emotions in check, I don’t change colour, and nobody is any the wiser.” Ilia explained. Ren nodded.

“So, you lived in Menagerie with Blake?” Ren asked her.

“Yes, but we fell out of contact after I moved to Atlas. I remembered Blake mentioning that she might be moving the Vale to attend Beacon though, so I convinced my team to enter the Vytal tournament so that we could come here to see her.” Ilia explained. “It’s been so long; the last time I saw you, oh gosh, you were still with-” The chameleon girl cut herself off, looking up at Ren and turning a deep blue before whispering to Blake. “Does he know? About... him?” She asked. Blake shook her head, looking almost ashamed.

“No.” She replied. “I... I’m going to tell him, but not yet.” She explained, as Ilia nodded.

“What are you two talking about?” Ren asked, not able to hear what they were saying they were talking so quietly.

“Nothing!” The pair responded in unison, fake smiles on their faces. Ren nodded; they clearly didn’t want him to know, whatever it was. Blake turned to Ilia. “We were just heading back to Beacon, why don’t you walk with us?” She suggested. Ilia looked up at Ren, before shaking her head.

“I don’t want to be a third wheel!” She jokes, laughing. “It was great seeing you again though! And it was lovely meeting you! We should hang out some time.” Ilia told them. Blake and Ilia exchanged scroll, numbers, before hugging again and parting ways. After a minute or so of walking, Blake turned to Ren.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude!” She told him sincerely. “It’s just, we were very good friends, and I haven’t seen her in so long. It’s like if you hadn’t seen Nora in years, and then passed her on the street one day.” Blake explained. Ren waved his hand.

“It’s fine!” He assured his girlfriend, stroking her face and chuckling at how worked up she seemed to be getting.

“You’re... not mad?” She asked, somewhat shocked.

“Why would I be?” Ren asked in confusion. “What kind of a boyfriend would I be if I didn’t let you speak to your friend’s!?” He laughed at how absurd an idea that was. Blake laughed with him, holding him tightly as she remembered how ‘he’ had done just that to her... but Ren wasn’t Adam. He was the furthest thing from that despicable man imaginable.

“Blake... you’re crying...” Ren pointed out upon seeing a tear run down her cheek. Blake wiped it away quickly.

“It... it’s just the wind.” Blake lied. A bad lie, considering there was no wind. Ren held Blake’s face lovingly.

“I’m not going to make you talk about anything you don’t want to, but there’s clearly something wrong.” He told her. “So, whenever you’re ready, please talk to me about it. Take as much time as you need.” He told her. Blake nodded, before hugging Ren tightly.

“Thank you... so much....” She whispered, as she clutched onto the man, seemingly for dear life.

“Anything for you...” He whispered into her ear, kissing her forehead, before they made their way back to Beacon.

 

“I’m just going to take a shower. Then – if it’s alright with you, of course – I’ll be right over?” Pyrrha told Ruby, although her statement turned into somewhat of a question halfway through. Ruby giggled.

“Sounds good!” She exclaimed in delight, finally letting go of the older girl’s hand for the first time since they’d set off from the arcade. “I’ll see you soon... GIRLFRIEND!” Ruby squealed in unbelievable excitement, leaning into her girlfriends arms and hugging her as tightly as humanly possible, before finally letting go, and each girl entered their respective dorm.

“Somebody’s in love...” Weiss remarked, followed Ruby into their dorm.

“I am! I think I am... I must be! I’ve never been so happy!” Ruby squealed, with Weiss covering her ears, Ruby’s voice had gone so high pitched.

“Well, I’m happy for you. Pyrrha is a wonderful person, and I’m sure that...” Weiss trailed off, looking down at the floor as she walked in at the piece of paper that her love struck teammate had just walked right over.

“Hm? What was... that?” Ruby asked, raising her eyebrows as Weiss closed the door behind her and picked up the letter. “Is that... from the same person?” She asked. Weiss nodded when she opened it and confirmed that it was the same handwriting, although she didn’t know whose it was. “What does it say?” Ruby asked. Once Weiss was done, she silently handed the note over to Ruby.

‘Dear Weiss,  
I know you’ve been worrying about my last note, and I’m so sorry for any stress that it may have caused you. I don’t regret sending it though. Just knowing that you received it makes me happy. I wish I was brave enough to talk to you face to face... maybe one day,  
All my love, your secret admirer’

“...oh...” Ruby muttered upon finishing reading the note. She looked up at Weiss, who had an almost worried look on her face.

“Who could it be!?” Weiss asked, biting her nails anxiously.

“I have no idea...” Ruby replied. “Maybe you’ll get lucky, and it’ll be the same person you like?” she suggested.

“I doubt it.” Weiss told Ruby. “I’d never get that lucky.”

“Speaking of which... you never told me who you like...” Ruby reminded Weiss, grinning. The heiress sighed. She didn’t really want to tell her partner who it was, but Ruby had told Weiss her own crush earlier that day, although it was strange that she had started dating somebody else that same day.

“Alright, but you have to swear not to mention a word of this to anybody...” Weiss told Ruby.

“I swear!” Ruby told her.

“I don’t know...” Weiss wondered. “Swear off cookies for a month if you tell anybody!” She demanded. Ruby let out an exaggerated gasp.

“I swear off cookies for a WEEK if I tell anybody.” She told Weiss. The heiress chuckled, before sighing.

“Alright... here goes...” She told herself. “The person I like... it’s... I can’t say!” Weiss told Ruby, getting stressed out and lying down on her bed. Ruby sat on the end of her bed, looking down at her partner caringly.

“You can trust me.” She assured Weiss.

“I know I can.” Weiss told her. “It’s just... I feel like as long as I don’t say it, I don’t actually like them.” Weiss told Ruby.

“You make it sound like you don’t want to like them.” Ruby pointed out.

“You’d understand if you knew.” Weiss replied.

“Help me to understand then!” She told her. Weiss sighed again, sitting beside Ruby in her bed.

Weiss leaned over, so that her mouth was right beside Ruby’s ear. Despite nobody else being in the room, she whispered the name of her crush into Ruby’s ear. The silver eyed girl gasped upon hearing the name.

“OH MY GOD!” Ruby practically screamed.

“Do NOT tell anybody, ever no matter what! Got it?” Weiss reminded Ruby, who nodded.

“I promise.”

“Not even Pyrrha or Yang!”

“I said I promise!” Ruby exclaimed. Weiss nodded.

“I’m going for a walk. You and Pyrrha can have some privacy anyway.” She told Ruby. Ruby thanked Weiss, promising again not to tell anybody, before the heiress left the dorm, wondering if she’d made a mistake by telling Ruby who she had a crush on.


	6. Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A week later, Ilia wants to meet up with Blake to talk, Ruby and Pyrrha make some progress in their relationship, Yang and Coco get closer, and Weiss finally figures out the identity of her secret admirer.

Blake began to stir, her mind taking a second to process where it was she was actually waking up. Rather than team RWBY’s dorm, she had gone with Ren to team JNPR’s room the night before, and fallen asleep in his arms in his bed with him. It had been a week since her first date with Ren, and she swore she had spent more night in his bed than in her own. Nothing had happened yet, besides the pair kissing and then cuddling, before falling asleep.

“Good morning.” Ren smiled down at Blake. The cat girl looked up at the man with her head resting beside him, while he sat up in bed, reading.

“Morning...” Blake grumbled sleepily. “What time is it?”

“Half past nine.” Ren told her, as Blake made to get up, only for him to continue. “Don’t worry, it’s Saturday, remember?” He reminded her. Blake nodded, lying back down next to him.

“I guess you could say it’s our one week anniversary.” She joked, as Ren chuckled, putting down his book. Neither of them could believe it had been a whole week since the two had started dating.

“I suppose so. Do you want to go out tonight to celebrate it?” He asked. 

“Sure.” Blake responded, before finally sitting up and looking around. “Where is everybody?” She asked.

“Jaune visited his family yesterday and stayed over, but he’s coming back today. I think Pyrrha’s with Ruby. Nora went out to some club with Yang last night and never came back.” He explained, as Blake nodded.

Just then, Blake’s scroll went off on Ren’s bedside table. She picked it up, and saw a message form Ilia.

‘Hey want to meet up for lunch? It think we have a lot to talk about...’

Blake bit her lip, not sure what to say. She wanted to see Ilia after all this time, having been putting her off all week to spend time with Ren. She told Ilia that she just wanted to spend time with her boyfriend, but the two faunus girl’s both knew that Blake didn’t want to have the inevitable conversation regarding how her previous relationship with Adam had ended. They would have to have it at some point though, and Blake knew just how persistent Ilia could be.

“Hey, Ren, Ilia wants to meet up with me for lunch today...” Blake told him. Ren nodded.

“Alright. We can always go out some other time.” He told her with a smile.

“If you don’t want me to go, that’s fine...” Blake told him. Ren rolled his eyes.

“Blake, she’s your friend! I don’t expect you to spend your whole life with me! Besides, we’ll have the evening to ourselves.” He chuckled, as Blake smiled and replied to Ilia.

‘Sounds good. Pick you up at twelve?’

‘Sure, I’ll send my dorm room number to your scroll. See ya soon Blake’

With that, Blake got out of bed, getting dressed, while Ren did the same. The two talked, giving each other a kiss before heading out to get some breakfast.

 

Yang groaned as she woke up, a little hangover and confused as to where on Remnant she was, until a familiar friendly voice helped her out, making her heart skip a beat.

“So, sleeping beauty finally awakens.” Coco remarked, chuckling as she watched Yang groggily sit up in her bed.

“Coco?” Yang asked, her head pounding. She was about to ask how she ended up in Coco’s room, when she suddenly remembered – she and Nora had been out at Junior’s club last night drinking, and had bumped into Coco. After that, everything was a bit of a blur.

“You probably don’t remember, but we ran into each other at the club last night.” Coco explained. “You and Nora crashed here, but she took off a few minutes ago actually. Weird, she had more than twice what we had to drink put together and she wasn’t even slightly hung-over...” Coco commented, frowning.

“Lucky.” Yang stated, as she sat up in the bed, pulling the sheets down only to revel that she was not wearing anything at all. She squealed as she yanked the sheets up to her neck, checking that Coco hadn’t seen anything. “COCO! Why am I naked in your bed!?” She screamed.

“Calm down, it’s not what you think!” Coco assured her. “You were a little bit sick, so I helped you out of your clothes and into the shower. Luckily Fox and Yatsuhashi were both out, but I didn’t want to dump you on either of their beds in case you were sick again, so I put you on my bed and I slept on Fox’s.” Coco finished explaining. Yang nodded.

“So... what else happened?” Yang asked.

“Aside from you making several very obvious passes at me, before eventually cornering me, kissing me, and confessing your undying love, you mean?” Coco asked, feigning an annoyed look. Yang’s eyes went wide, as she pulled the bedsheets up to cover her entire glowing red face.

“I. AM. SO. SORRY.” Yang told Coco, as she fell down in the bed, hiding under the sheets. Coco laughed, pulling the sheets off just enough to shown Yang’s face.

“Don’t worry, it’s fine” She told her. “Although it did make sense why Nora was so eager to invite me to meet with you.” She added.

“Wait, Nora...” Yang began, realisation dawning on her face. “Oh that devious scheming little – just wait till I get my hands on her!” yang growled, her eyes red in anger.

“You’ll what?” Coco asked calmly. “Throttle her for managing to get you to make out with me?” She asked.

“I guess...” Yang replied, her eyes turning back to their natural purple colour. She really ought to be thanking Nora. “So, what does this mean for us?” Yang asked. Coco simply shrugged.

“That depends on what you want.” She told the blonde. “We could either forget about this and pretend it never happened, or we could start dating.” She told her, giving her to options.

“I... wait, I thought... weren’t you the one sending Weiss those letters?” Yang asked Coco, who shook her head.

“I never said that.” She told her. “I only reacted like that because, well, I know who did.”

“Oh...” Yang responded. “So, who was it?” 

“Hey, steady there, you didn’t answer my question!” Coco reminded Yang. “Not that you need to, I’ve got a feeling I know how you’re going to respond.” Coco told her. Without another word, Yang stood up with the bedsheets wrapped around her, walked over to Coco and kissed her, deeply and seductively.

“That tell you what you need to know?” Yang asked once the kiss broke.

“It tells me your breath stinks of vomit.” Coco told her, making a disgusted face.

“Oh God! I’m so sorry...” Yang told her, sitting on the bed with her face in her hands in shame.

“It’s fine.” The brunette told the blonde. “And by the way, I’d love to date you too.” She told her. The two smiled at each other, and Yang leaned in for a kiss, only to be stopped by the girl. “... maybe brush your teeth first.” She joked. Yang blushed, as she went into the bathroom to brush her teeth, turning to Coco before she entered.

“So, we’re dating now?” She asked, to clarify. Coco nodded.

“We’ll make everyone jealous.” She told her Yang smirked.

“You never said; who was the one writing the letters?” Yang asked. Coco chuckled.

“It’s so obvious, isn’t it?” She asked her, receiving a blank stare form the blonde. Coco sighed. “I’ll tell you in a minute, so now, TEETH!” She reminded her, as Yang went into the bathroom. 

“Oh, by the way, could you call Ruby to bring me a change of clothes?” Yang asked Coco.

“Sure thing!” Coco called back to her.

“Thanks!” Yang replied. “Oh, and, thanks for everything else!” She added.

“Don’t mention it, hot stuff!” Coco replied, making Yang thankful that Coco couldn’t see her blush, as she messaged Ruby. “You can thank me later by taking me to see that movie that we meant to watch.” Coco reminded Yang, who laughed.

“Yeah, there was a problem with those tickets...” Yang told her.

“What? That they were imaginary, and Weiss only made them up to try to get us to go out?” Coco asked. 

“...pretty much.” Yang confirmed what Coco had already suspected, as she returned from the bathroom, and the two embraced, kissing each other.

“Much better.” The brunette told the blonde, as they sat on her bed, kissing each other deeply, now as girlfriends.

 

“Good morning Pyrrha!” Ruby squealed in excitement, practically bouncing around the room. The older girl groaned at being awoken, but was immediately made to feel better when she laid her eyes on her adorable girlfriend.

“Morning... Ruby...” Pyrrha mumbled, smiling up at her. “Just a few more minutes...”

“No! We’re not wasting a second of today!” Ruby exclaimed. “Do you know what today is?”

“...Saturday?” Pyrrha grumbled, sitting up in Ruby’s bed and rubbing her eyes.

“No – well, yes – but it’s our one week anniversary!” She exclaimed.

“That’s not really something people celebrate, Ruby...” Pyrrha told her, yawning as she woke up slowly.

“Well I am!” Ruby informed her girlfriend, pouting in a way that made Pyrrha giggle at how cute the silver eyed girl was. “This is the first relationship I’ve ever been in, so it means a lot to me, especially with you.” Ruby admitted, blushing a little.

“Alright Ruby, we can celebrate it a little bit.” Pyrrha told her. “So, did you get me a present?” Ruby grinned.

“Sort of...” She told her. “Close your eyes.”

Pyrrha did as she was told, closing her emerald eyes. After a few seconds of Ruby hesitating, Pyrrha all of a sudden felt the lips of her younger girlfriend press against her own. She reached up to take the girl’s face in her hands, while Ruby leaned on the bed, the two kissing for the first time in their relationship. Ruby’s inexperience was evident in the kiss, but Pyrrha didn’t mind, enjoying it nonetheless until it broke.

“Wow...” Ruby whispered, panting. “Did... did I do it right?” She asked, her face as red as Pyrrha’s hair.

“That was wonderful, Ruby.” Pyrrha told her, smiling reassuringly. Ruby returned the gesture.

“It felt really good...” She told her. Without warning, she kissed Pyrrha again. And again. And again. She was getting better the longer it went on. Pyrrha didn’t mind, letting Ruby lie on top of her as they kissed, before rolling over and lying side by side in bed.

“Now, this isn’t wasting the day, is it?” Pyrrha asked. Ruby giggled, shaking her head.

“I... I love you, Pyrrha.” Ruby admitted, blushing. Pyrrha stroked Ruby’s face with her hand.

“I love you too, Ruby.” She told her, giving her another kiss.

“We should do this every day!” Ruby squealed in excitement. Pyrrha found it simply adorable how excited Ruby would get about the smallest of things, seeing joy everywhere in the world.

“That would certainly be grand!” Pyrrha chuckled.

“I have you. Blake has Ren. Yang could have Coco, and Weiss could have Vel...” Ruby began, but cut herself off upon revealing too much about what Weiss had told her last week.

“Weiss could have... were you going to say ‘Velvet’?” Pyrrha asked. “Does Weiss have a crush on Velvet?” The two sat up in bed, distracted from their kissing by the new development. Ruby bit her lip, nodding.

“Please don’t tell Weiss! She trusted me not to tell anybody!” Ruby pleaded with her girlfriend.

“It’s okay, Ruby! I won’t tell a soul!” Pyrrha assured her, calming the younger girl down a bit. “So, Weiss likes Velvet... it’s no wonder she was so reluctant to admit it. I mean, Velvet’s a lovely young woman, but it would probably make the headlines if the heiress to the Schnee dust company were to date a female Faunus...” Pyrrha remarked.

“Yeah, but that shouldn’t stop someone from wanting to be with the person they like, right?” Ruby asked Pyrrha.

“Of course not!” Pyrrha replied. “I only meant to say that I can imagine that Weiss feels torn between her loyalty to her family’s reputation and her own feelings. Personally I think it’s absurd that Faunus-Human relationships are frowned upon, but you have to think of this from Weiss’s perspective; how do you think her father would react if he found out that his own daughter was not only a lesbian, but dating a Faunus?” Pyrrha asked.

“I guess I understand...” Ruby responded, feeling bad for Weiss. “Although... you do know that you’re dating me, not Velvet, right?” Ruby asked her girlfriend, referring to her comments about the rabbit girl. Pyrrha smirked down at her.

“Are you getting jealous?” Pyrrha asked a little teasingly. Making Ruby pout cutely. “Don’t worry; you’re the only girl for me.” The two kissed again, when Ruby’s scroll went off on her bedside table.

“A message form... Coco?” Ruby frowned, as she opened it up.

‘Hey Ruby, it’s Coco in case you don’t have my number. Anyway, Yang’s here, so can you bring a change of clothes for her? Thanks’

“What does she say?” Pyrrha asked. Ruby frowned, blushing simultaneously.

“She asked me to bring a change of clothes for Yang...” She told her girlfriend.

“I guess Nora’s plan worked...” She said to herself, getting a confused look form Ruby before she continued. “Nora asked Coco to meet Yang at a club, but didn’t tell Yang, basically setting them up.” She explained, as Ruby nodded.

“Wait, so you don’t think... Yang needs clothes because...” Ruby’s face went the deepest shade of red there was at the idea of her sister engaging in such scandalous activities.

“I’m sure it’s not what it seems like!” Pyrrha assured her girlfriend, but she was sure that it was. “I’ll go with you if you like.”  
Ruby thanked her older girlfriend, as they picked out a suitable outfit for Yang, before leaving to head down to team CFVY’s dorm room.

 

“Weiss...?” Weiss stirred, as she heard someone call her name. 

“Weiss...!” The same voice whispered, seemingly right beside her ear.

Weiss opened her eyes, not knowing exactly where she was, but for some reason she was surrounded by books. Looking down, she saw that instead of a pillow, there was a mess of books and sheets over a desk that she had been sleeping on. She looked around, recognising that she was in the library, and putting a face to the voice that had woke her up.

“Velvet...?” Weiss asked, as the bunny girl stood beside her, blushing at having found the heiress in such a state. “Oh God! I must have fallen asleep studying last night! What time is it?” She asked.

“Half past nine.” Velvet replied, looking a little embarrassed on Weiss’s behalf.

“This is so embarrassing...” Weiss commented, her face bright red.

“I’m sorry.” Velvet told her, looking away anxiously.

‘Gosh, she’s simply so cute’ Weiss thought. Velvet appeared so innocent, yet Weiss had seen her fight, and knew just how tough she could really get. She was adorable, sweet and kind, yet also intelligent, strong and resilient, to have been bullied for her Faunus heritage her entire life and to still be almost at the very top of her classes. She was utterly perfect to Weiss.

“It’s not your fault.” Weiss told the rabbit Faunus, blushing as she realised she’d been staring at the girl a little longer than she had meant to without saying anything. “I’m just glad it was you that found me and not Glynda, or someone else!” She joked, chuckling nervously. Velvet giggled cutely.

“I’m was going to study the applications of dust, if you wanted to help me? I know you’re a bit of an expert...” Velvet told Weiss. The blue eyed girl blushed at the compliment from her crush, wanting to say yes, before looking down at herself.

“Sorry Velvet, I think I’d better get showered and changed first...” Weiss told her, seeing her creased dress from spending the night hunched over as she slept.

“Alright, I guess I’ll maybe see you soon?” She asked. Weiss nodde, promising to join her as soon as she could, once she had a chance to wash and dress properly.

Velvet walked away to find a seat near the back of the library, when from out of the stack of books and papers she carried with her, a small note fell out onto the floor.

“Velvet, you –” Weiss began, before recognising the paper. Opening it, she read what was written.

 

‘Dear Weiss,

I’m so sorry. I’ve been such a coward by not revealing myself. I’m so ashamed that I’ve caused you any worry. I just don’t know how to cope with my feelings for you. I hope one day that I will have the courage to tell you face to face how I feel. Even if you don’t feel the same, it won’t matter, because at least you will know the truth. 

Love, your secret admirer...’

 

The note was written exactly like all of the other love letters she’d received, in terms of the paper, handwriting, language and so on. Everything about it was identical, and it had been Velvet that had dropped it, which could only mean...

“Velvet...” Weiss whispered to herself, as she looked over at the perfect rabbit girl sitting across the library. Weiss should have known; Velvet had been her secret admirer all along.


	7. The strength to move forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss thinks about how best to deal with the information about Velvet. Meanwhile, Blake and Ilia talk about the past, while Velvet confesses her love.

Weiss paced back and forth, thinking to herself.

She held Velvet’s third note in her hand still, having almost memorised it she’d reread it so many times. It wasn’t as if she didn’t know what it meant, she just didn’t know what to do. It was obvious that Velvet felt the same way about Weiss as she did about her, it was just a matter of what to do next.

Weiss had never had so much as a crush on anybody before, and thus her feelings for Velvet were overwhelming to say the least. She couldn’t get the rabbit faunus out of her head. It wasn’t as if she was thinking anything indecent about her, just imagining walking down the street, holding her hand, being able to date whoever she wanted without a care what anybody else thought.

She’d felt like this ever since she first met Velvet. She had tried to deny her feelings, but they just kept on coming back no matter what she tried to tell herself.

The heiress sighed, sitting on her bed and reading the note for the millionth time. Even if she did ask Velvet out, even if she did find the courage and the right words to ask her to go out with her, what would happen? What would her father do? How would her family react? Surely it would create a media scandal: Schnee heiress dates Faunus girl.

Weiss sighed angrily, pacing back and forth again, the note crumpled a little in her hand.

 

“It’s been a while since we’ve done this.” Blake spoke, smiling up at her old friend.

“Too long.” Ilia replied with a smile. Blake was sipping a latte, while Ilia drank a cappuccino, sitting at a two person table in the window of a cafe.

“So, what’s it like in Atlas?” Blake asked. 

“It’s... interesting.” Ilia replied. “Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE it there, but some of the people you meet can be a bit... I mean, their opinions particularly on faunus...” Ilia trailed off.

“I know what you mean.” Blake told her. “There are a few people like that in Beacon, but I can imagine it’s much worse at Atlas.

“You can say that again.” Ilia told, Blake. “So, what’s Beacon like?” Ilia asked. Blake smiled.

“It’s brilliant!” She exclaimed. “Everybody there is awesome – well, most people – but my team are all so lovely. You should meet them some time.” Blake told Ilia.

“I’d love to.” Ilia told her. 

The pair sat in silence for a second or two, before Ilia spoke again.

“You know the real reason I wanted to talk to you, don’t you?” Ilia asked Blake. The cat girl sighed, nodding.

“I... do we have to talk about that?” Blake asked.

“Blake... what happened?” Ilia asked her. “We were best friends, but then you hardly spoke to me for almost a year. The next thing I know, I hear that you and your family were moving to Vale and you were going to Beacon. Why didn’t you talk to me?” The chameleon girl asked. Blake simply looked down at her latte, not answering the question.” Was it Adam? I know it was. He never liked you talking to me. It was him, wasn’t it?” Ilia asked. Blake slowly nodded, almost in shame.

“I’m so, so sorry, Ilia...” Blake told her, by some miracle managing not to cry. “It wasn’t just you, he got jealous of everybody, even my family. I just couldn’t take it anymore!” Blake told her friend. Ilia remained silent, as Blake finally opened up after all this time. “He was so controlling, he wouldn’t let me see my friends or go out unless it was with him. He hardly let me talk to other people, always told me what to do, and if I ever did anything he didn’t like...” Blake trailed off, as Ilia held her hand.

“I’m sorry for bringing this up.” Ilia told her, but Blake shook her head.

“No, you have a right to know.” Blake told her. “Besides, when I told my parents, it made me feel so much better. I think telling you will help.” The cat girl added, as the chameleon girl nodded.

“Did he ever... you know... hit you?” Ilia asked, afraid of what Blake’s response might be to the question. Blake didn’t actually say anything, but her silence told Ilia everything she needed to know. “Oh God, Blake...” Ilia’s eyes began to water, as she wondered how Blake was managing not to shed a tear.

“You know what? That wasn’t even the worst part.” Blake told Ilia. “The worst part wasn’t him cutting me off from my friends and family, or him controlling every aspect of my life, or telling me what I was allowed to do. It wasn’t walking on eggshells around him to avoid being ‘taught a lesson’, or having to make excuses for my injuries, and lie for him. The worst part wasn’t even how helpless and alone I felt when I was with him. The worst part... was the fact that I let myself get sucked in by his deceit and lies, and allowed him to use me and hurt me like that.” Blake explained to her friends, looking more angry with herself than sad.

“It wasn’t your fault!” Ilia told her. “That’s what Adam does! He uses people, manipulates them, lies to and tricks them, and he doesn’t care who gets hurt while he does it. I mean, just look at Sienna...”

“I should have listened to her.” Blake replied. “Sienna tried to warn me about him, but... he was just so charming and romantic. He treated me like I meant the world to him. When my parents expressed their disapproval at me dating someone a few years older, he told me that they just didn’t understand what we had. He made me treat my parents like garbage, made me treat my friends like strangers... he made me feel like it was all my fault... IT WASN’T!” Blake snapped, breathing heavily. A few people in the cafe turned to look at the girl that had just shouted. The two faunus’ apologised, and everybody went back about their business.

“We can go somewhere private if you want....” Ilia offered, but Blake shook her head.

“No. He’s just a memory now. I refuse to hide from him.” The cat girl declared. Ilia smiled up at her.

“You’re much stronger than I am.” The chameleon girl told Blake. The black haired girl smiled.

“Thank you, Ilia.” Blake told her. “It’s good to see you, and this had been really helpful. Also, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention any of this to Ren.”

“You should tell him.” Ilia told Blake. “If you like, I’ll join you?” She offered.

“Thank you.” Blake said with a smile. “And I will tell him, eventually, but not yet.” The cat girl told her.

“Have you told anybody else?” Ilia asked.

“My partner at Beacon, Yang.” Blake responded. “I told her his name, and that he didn’t treat me well, but I didn’t go into detail, and asked her not to mention it.” Ilia nodded.

The two Faunus girl’s finished their drinks, before heading out into town. Before they went back to Beacon, the pair decided to spend some more time together, before Blake would be going out with Ren tonight.

 

“So you two are dating?” Pyrrha asked. Yang and Coco nodded. The blonde and brunette were sat on one side of the table, while the two redheads – Pyrrha and Ruby – sat on the other side.

“I’d had a crush on Coco for a while, and of all the ways I imagined asking her out, I did not expect that I’d be drunk.” Yang explained.

“And yet I still said yes.” Coco added.

“I’m just so irresistible.” Yang remarked, as she leaned over and kissed Coco on the lips, turning more than a few heads as the students saw two of the hottest girl’s at Beacon make out.

“Doesn’t that bother you?” Pyrrha asked. Coco shrugged, but Yang nodded.

“Don’t worry babe, if they ever start to piss you off, just give them one of these.” Coco told Yang, before demonstrating what she was referring to. The brunette tilted her shades down, giving a couple of staring guys a pissed off glare, prompting them to turn back around.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Yang told her with a chuckle.

“Hey, guess what Yang? Pyrrha and I kissed today!” Ruby squealed in delight, hugging her girlfriend.

“That’s cute.” Coco remarked.

“Way to go; I’m proud of you sis!” Yang told her little sister. Coco looked across at Yang, and then back at Ruby.

“Yeah, me too.” Coco added, giving Ruby a smirk.

“Thanks.” Yang whispered to Coco, who smiled in response.

“Hey guys...” A familiar voice spoke up. The four girls turned to see Velvet standing beside the table, before she sat down beside Coco.

“Hey Velvet!” Ruby smiled at the brunette bunny, who smiled back, but looked a little distressed.

“What’s up, cottontail?” Coco asked Velvet, the Faunus apparently not minding Coco’s nickname, not really taking it as an insult.

“It’s just... I asked Weiss to study with me in the library, and she said she’d be there, and then never showed up.” Velvet explained.

“That sucks, I’m sorry.” Coco told her teammate.

“Weiss can be weird, I’m sure it’s nothing personal.” Yang remarked.

“Maybe she forgot?” Ruby suggested. Velvet laughed.

“Not likely! We only arranged it this morning.” She explained. “I don’t understand, she could have at least messaged me; I know she has my scroll number, because she told me what the homework was for Glynda’s class that time I was off sick, and I didn’t even ask for it!” She exclaimed.

“I don’t know what to say.” Coco told her. “Some people are just inconsiderate – no offence Yang, Ruby, I know she’s your teammate and all.”

“Now hang on!” Ruby spoke up in Weiss’s defence. She knew that Weiss had a crush on Velvet, so it was unlikely that she would ditch her unless something serious came up. “I think we should hear Weiss out in all of this! Maybe something happened to her.” Ruby suggested.

“Ruby, you don’t understand.” Coco told her, looking at Velvet, who spoke up rather than Coco.

“The truth is...” Velvet began, taking a deep breath before continuing. “I’m the one that has been sending Weiss those letters. I... I... I love her!” Velvet declared, before slumping down in her seat and burying her face in her hands, utterly embarrassed.

“WHAT!?” Ruby and Yang yelled in unison, attracting the attention of a few students who looked up, not knowing that all the commotion was about. Coco and Pyrrha convinced their respective girlfriends to calm down, before Ruby spoke to Velvet.

“So, you’re in love with Weiss?” Ruby asked. Velvet nodded.

“You should ask her out.” Pyrrha suggested, nudging Ruby and giving her girlfriend a knowing look.

“Nice try, but she won’t do it.” Coco told them. “She’s convinced Weiss will say no.”

“She won’t though! Because she... she just won’t!” Ruby exclaimed. Velvet hadn’t noticed her near slip up, but yang and Coco both did, realising that Weiss had a crush on Velvet too.

“Ruby’s right. It might go better than you think.” Pyrrha added.

“Yeah, you should ask her!” Yang told Velvet.

“You know what? They’re right!” Coco told the bunny girl. “Come on! We’re going to ask her right now.”

“You’ll never know if you don’t!” Ruby reminded her. 

“I suppose so...” Velvet mumbled.

“That’s the spirit!” Yang told her.

Coco and ruby grabbed each of Velvet’s arms, followed closely by Yang and Pyrrha, as they dragged her off to team RWBY’s dorm where they figured Weiss probably was. Finally, after weeks of having this crush, Velvet was going to ask out Weiss.


	8. To hell with convention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Velvet asks out Weiss, but things don't exactly go to plan...

“I’m so excited!” Ruby squealed, hugging Pyrrha, as the two of them – as well as yang and Coco – followed Velvet to team RWBY’s dorm where Weiss was.

“I’m so proud of you!” Coco told Velvet, making the shy rabbit Faunus blush.

“What’s going on?”

The girl’s all turned to see Blake arriving back from seeing Ilia.

“Velvet’s going to ask out Weiss!” Ruby practically yelled, overflowing with excitement. “She’s the one that was writing the letter’s, and Weiss already told me that she likes Velvet…” Ruby cut herself off, realising what she had said.

“Wait, what!?” Yang exclaimed.

“W-Weiss likes me…?” Velvet asked, her cheeks bright red.

“I… well…” Ruby stammered. “I was going to say something, but I wanted it to be a surprise!” Ruby told them.

“I didn’t see tat coming…” Blake muttered. 

“Velvet, this is great!” Coco told her. “Weiss likes you too, now there’s nothing to be worried about!”

“You’re right.” Velvet responded, a huge grin spreading across her face as they reached team RWBY’s dorm. The brunette bunny knocked on the door, s the six girls waited for a response before Weiss finally opened it, looking shocked ot se them all there.

“What’s going on…?” Weiss asked, before seeing Velvet. “Velvet…”

“Hi Weiss…” Velvet said shyly.

The six girl’s made their way in, with Blake, Yang and Coco sitting on Blake’s bed, and Ruby and Pyrrha sitting on Weiss’s bed, with Weiss and Velvet standing in the middle of the room.

“Velvet has something to ask you.” Coco told Weiss, but before the Faunus could say anything, Weiss pulled out a piece of paper.

“Is it anything to do with this?” She asked, holding up the third note that Velvet wrote her.

“Where did you get that!?” Velvet exclaimed.

“You dropped it this morning… sorry, I meant to give it back.” Weiss told her. There was an awkward silence, before Yang spoke.

“So… is it a yes or no?” She asked Weiss. The heiress sighed.

“As flattered as I am, Velvet, I’m afraid that I don’t feel the same way.” Weiss told the rabbit girl. The room fell silent, tears beginning to well up in Velvet’s eyes, before Coco spoke.

“What are you talking about Weiss? Ruby told us all that you have a crush on Velvet!” The brunette exclaimed, looking rather angry at Weiss for hurting her best friend’s feelings. Wiess glared at Ruby.

“You TOLD them!?” She yelled at the silver eyed girl. “I told you not to tell anybody, and what did you do? Can’t you be trusted with anything!?” Weiss yelled, a s Ruby too now looked like she was going to cry. 

“I-I’m s-sorry…” Ruby sniffed, on the verge of tears. She never liked being shouted at, lest of all when it as her best friend doing it.

“Weiss, calm down…” Pyrrha told her.

“Don’t talk to my sister like that!” Yang snapped, standing up, eyes red as she shoved Weiss.

“Yang, leave her alone!” Velvet exclaimed, trying to keep the blonde away from the girl she loved. 

“Velvet, you don’t need to defend her!” Coco pointed out. “She clearly has no respect for you considering she just lied to you!” The girl added.

“Yeah, why did you lie?” Yang asked. Weiss was half angry, half afraid, leading to some very poorly chosen next few words.

“Because she’s a Faunus!” Weiss snapped. The room was, again, so silent that you could have heard a pin drop, before Weiss went on. “It’s bad enough that I’m having these… unnatural feelings towards another girl, but a Faunus? Of all people? I can’t possibly date you!” Weiss declared.

Velvet couldn’t believe what she was hearing. None of them could. It took a second for it to sink in, before she burst into tears fleeing the room.

“Velvet!” Coco called after her teammate, following her out of the room, then followed by Yang, who gave Weiss a look of hatred, before going with Coco. Weiss turned to Ruby.

“This is all your fault!” She snapped. Ruby was the next to burst into tears and leave the room to team JNPR’s dorm, followed by Pyrrha. Even she gave Weiss a disapproving look, before slamming the door behind her, shutting Weiss in.

The white haired girl couldn’t take it anymore, as she broke down crying, tears streaming down her cheeks. Why had she done that? Why had she said those things? The heiress lost control of her anger, swiping all of her books off of her desk, making a mess all over the room, before collapsing onto the floor sobbing. She had been so caught up in her tantrum, that she forgot that she wasn’t alone, and almost screamed when she felt a hand placed on her shoulder.

“Are you going to be ok?” Blake asked her. Weiss looked up, her bloodshot eyes meeting Blake’s gentle amber ones.

“Thought you’d be the first to go.” She told her. Blake shook her head, helping Weiss to her feet, as they both sat on her bed.

“You didn’t mean those things, did you?” Blake asked Weiss. For a second, Weiss thought about lying again, but shook her head.

“Of course not…” She admitted.

“You really like Velvet, don’t you?” Blake asked.

“...what’s not to love?” Weiss asked the cat girl. “She’s kind, funny, cute, smart, a damn good fighter, and one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met.” The heiress admitted.

“Then why did you say those horrible things?” Blake asked, giving Weiss a hurt look, although not like she had been offended by her comments, more like she felt sorry for her.

“I don’t know…” Weiss lied. “Actually, that’s not true.” She admitted. “I do know.” Blake put her arms around Weiss.

“You can talk to me.” She told her. Weiss sniffed, wiping her eyes dry.

“It’s just… my family, Atlas, where I grew up; everybody there hated the Faunus. They didn’t just think of them as lesser beings, they actively hated them. It was almost as bad for people like my sister…” Weiss explained. “When I was thirteen, she would have been my age, and my father caught her kissing a girl. That was all, just a kiss. He had the poor girl imprisoned on charges of assault for ‘defiling’ his daughter, and never forgave his eldest child. She went to Atlas academy to escape him; that’s practically the only place where people who are homosexual can go.” Weiss explained.

“That’s awful!” Blake commented. Weiss nodded.

“The thing is, I always thought I was straight.” She told Blake. “I never thought I could be a lesbian, not after everything my father told me about how it’s ‘unnatural’ and ‘disgusting’. But then I started feeling these… feelings, whenever I thought of Velvet. I felt so happy to talk to her, like everything was fine because she was there.” Weiss explained. 

“It’s okay if you have feelings for her.” Blake assured her. “You’re not in the wrong for the way you feel, it’s your father who is wrong.” The cat girl added. Weiss nodded.

“I know, I know, it’s just… I’m all of a sudden starting to question everything I was told growing up.” Weiss told her. “I mean, when it was you and Ren, I thought ‘sure, why shouldn’t a human and Faunus be allowed to date?’. And when Yang and Coco, and Ruby and Pyrrha started going out, I was happy that they found people that they loved. But I felt the same way about Velvet and… it scared me. It still scares me…”

Weiss broke down crying, her head on Blake’s shoulder as she comforted her teammate. 

“I’m just so confused… I’m so scared…” Weiss muttered, sobbing into Blake’s shoulder. 

“Weiss look at me.” Blake told her. Weiss did as she was told. “You have nothing to be ashamed or scared of. If you have feelings for Velvet, you should tell her, but do so in your own time. There’s no need to force yourself to do something that you’re not sure about.” Weiss nodded, wiping her tears.

“It’s just, I think I do like boys… but I like girls to… it’s confusing…” Weiss told Blake.

“Well, maybe you’re bi.” Blake suggested. “You know, bisexual?” Weiss nodded.

“Maybe…” She spoke. “But, if I date Velvet, my father will find out! There’s no way he won’t try to ruin it. What if he tries to hurt her? It would be my fault!” Weiss cried.

“First of all, it wouldn’t be your fault.” Blake assured her. “Secondly, your father is in Atlas, and you’re in Vale. If you ask the rest of the girls, I’m sure they’ll be discrete about you and Velvet dating. You wouldn’t have to hide, but neither would your father know.”

“Even if we did… the way I treated her… she deserves better than me.” Weiss stated.

“Weiss, you are amazing. Velvet would be lucky to have you.” Blake assured the heiress. “You don’t know what she will say until you ask her.” Weiss hesitated, before nodding.

“…you’re right… I will ask her!” Weiss declared, standing up, before Blake joined her. “Thank you so much!” Blake could hardly believe that this was still Weiss, when she leapt up into her and hugged her as tightly as she possibly could, before letting go. “I have to find Velvet, I’ll see you later!” 

With that, Weiss took off down the corridor, leaving Blake alone in the room. The cat Faunus crossed the hall to team JNPR’s room to check on Ruby and Pyrrha, making a mental note to remind Weiss to apologise to Ruby later. Meanwhile, Weiss made her way to team CFVY’s dorm, figuring Velvet would be there, arriving to see Yang leaving the room.

“Yang…” Weiss spoke. Yang looked up at the heiress, and Weiss expected an angry glare, but instead simply received a sorrowful look.

“Hey Weiss.” Yang spoke. “Just so you know, I think I understand why you acted like that – not that that excuses it.” Yang explained.

“I’m sorry…” Weiss muttered.

“It’s not me you should be apologising to.” Yang told her. “I’m going to check on Ruby… I hope it goes well with Velvet.” With that, Yang left, and Weiss made her way to the door. 

She knocked, and Coco answered, giving Weiss a hateful stare.

“Leave.” Coco ordered. Weiss was about to do just that, figuring she’d made a huge mistake, when Velvet chirped up.

“Weiss… come in!” She told her. Weiss gave a half-hearted smile at the rabbit Faunus, who returned the gesture. Velvet smiled so cutely, but her bloodshot eyes told Weiss that she had been crying. “Can we have some privacy please Coco?” Velvet asked. Coco glared at Weiss again, before leaving the heiress alone with the Faunus.

“I… I… I’m so sorry!” Weiss broke down, falling to her knees and crying before Velvet who was sat on her bed.

“I-It’s okay Weiss!” Velvet assured her. “I understand if you don’t want to date me…”

“That’s not it.” Weiss told her. Velvet invited the white-haired girl to sit beside her, as she explained to Velvet everything that she had just explained to Blake, about her father, about her questioning her sexuality, about how she felt about the Faunus, apologising again and again every other sentence she spoke.

“So… you only said those things because you were afraid that your father would find out about us if we dated and possibly come after me?” Velvet asked once Weiss was done.

“I know, it’s a terrible excuse, and you have every right to hate me after what I said.” Weiss told her.

“Hate you?” Velvet asked. “Weiss, do you have any idea how many people would have put somebody they love before their own happiness, even if it meant hurting their feelings?” Velvet asked.

“That’s not exactly what happened…” Weiss protested.

“Its close enough!” Velvet argued. The two girl’s laughed, wiping tears from their eyes. “So… what now?” Velvet asked, as Weiss bit her lip.

“If you are sure you don’t hate me, we could, I don’t know… go out for a drink sometime?” Weiss suggested.

“Well, I’ll have to decide whether I hate you or not first…” Velvet joked. “I’m kidding… sorry, I’m just a bit nervous…” She admitted when she saw that Weiss didn’t really find that very funny.

“It’s okay.” Weiss told her, chuckling at the shy Faunus girl.

“Weis, I would be honoured to go out with you!” Velvet told her.

“So… we’re dating?” Weiss asked. Velvet beamed, nodding her head enthusiastically. “So, I’ve got a girlfriend?” Velvet nodded again. “I’ve got a girlfriend… I’VE GOT A GIRLFRIEND!” Weiss shouted.

“So much for keeping it on the down low…” velvet remarked. Weiss laughed.

“Velvet, I promise you, I will never speak to you like that again!” Weiss told her, hugging her new girlfriend as tight as she could. “I’m not going to let anything come between us, not even my father, you understand?” Weiss asked.

“Can’t… breathe…” Velvet wheezed. Weiss chuckled, loosing the hug.

“Sorry…” She apologised.

“It’s okay… girlfriend!” Velvet told her, beaming gleefully. “Just promise me one thing; no matter what it is that’s bothering you, if you’re having doubts, or still trying to figure out your sexuality, or anything else, please come to me!” Velvet told Weiss.

“I promise.” Weiss told her, wiping away the last of her tears.

The two girls sat with each other for a while thinking about their new relationship. It didn’t matter that other people may not approve, or that Weiss’s father didn’t approve. All that mattered was that they had each other… they were finally together, as they were surely destined to be.


	9. Hitting the town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby and Pyrrha hatch a plan to cheer up Emerald. Weiss and Coco reconcile, as they plan to go out with Yang and Velvet. Nora gets jealous of everybody being in a relationship.

Ruby giggled, as Pyrrha kissed her neck. The two were sat on one of the benches around Beacon courtyard enjoying the fresh and had been talking until Pyrrha had decided to wrap her hands around Ruby’s waist and tease her instead.

“Pyrrha!” Ruby squealed, as the older redhead kissed her jawline. “Stop it! We’re in public!” The younger girl giggled.

“Oh relax! I’m only kissing you!” Pyrrha told the girl, but eventually ended her series of kisses with one last peck on the cheek. Rub smiled, looking up into her girlfriend’s emerald eyes, as she leaned up and kissed her on the lips. Pyrrha kissed Ruby back, not too sensually mind, considering they were in public.

“I can’t stop smiling around you!” Ruby giggled, a huge grin plastered on her face. “I can’t stop kissing you either!” She added, kissing her lips again.

“To think, you were so nervous, and now you’ll just kiss me wherever we are!” Pyrrha smiled down at the silver-eyed girl, as they kissed yet again. The kiss eventually broke, just as Ruby spotted a girl with green hair slowly walking across the courtyard looking miserable.

“Emerald…” Ruby muttered, as Pyrrha followed her girlfriends gaze to the lonely girl.

“We should go talk to her.” Pyrrha told Ruby, turning back to see that her girlfriend was one step ahead of her, already making her way over to the green-haired girl.

“Hey Emerald!” Ruby called out. The girl stopped in her tracks, her face lighting up somewhat upon seeing Ruby as she smiled faintly

“Hey Ruby. Hey Pyrrha.” Emerald smiled, as her two red-haired friend joined her.

“Are you okay? You looked upset…” Ruby observed. Pyrrha bit her lip. Ruby had never been one to sugar-coat things, always saying exactly what she thought, which wasn’t always a good thing. Emerald didn’t seem to mind though.

“Yeah, I was just… no. I’m not alright.” She admitted, giving up on the half-hearted lie before she had even finished it.

“What’s wrong?” Pyrrha asked, as the three seated themselves on a different each that was nearby.

“It’s Cinder…” Emerald explained. “I was going to ask her out, but before I got a chance to, she started telling me about her new boyfriend…” The red-eyed girl explained. “I’m so stupid for thinking I ever stood a chance with her.” Emerald sighed, sitting back on the bench.

“No, you are not!” Ruby declared, startling Emerald a little. “You’re not stupid at all! You should just keep on trying, ad eventually she’ll fall for you! You’re sweet, tough, and hella cute; how could any girl resist!?” Ruby exclaimed. Emerald couldn’t help but chuckle at Ruby.

“Did you just say ‘hella’?” Pyrrha asked. 

“Ruby, that’s sweet of you to say, but I don’t think you understand. Cinder’s straight. She will never be interested in me.” Emerald explained. Ruby’s face sank, as her attempts to help were a failure.

“Well… perhaps you can take your mind off it by seeing somebody else?” Pyrrha suggested. “It wouldn’t have to be anything serious, just a few dates to help you get over Cinder.” She explained.

“Maybe…” Emerald thought about it. “I’ll think about it and get back to you. I’ve got to go, but thanks guys!” Emerald told the pair, before heading off, as the two waved her goodbye from the bench.

 

“Weiss, this isn’t what I thought you meant when you said, ‘hang out’…” Velvet sighed, as she and Weiss sat at the heiress’s desk in team RWBY’s dorm room. “Our first day as a couple, and of curse you spend it studying.” The rabbit Faunus chuckled, as Weiss scowled at her.

“Hey! We cuddled before!” She reminded the Faunus girl. “Besides, you were the one that wanted me to help you out with your studies on the application of dust!” Weiss added.

“Actually… I got a 97% on the last test we did on it… that was more of an excuse to get you alone before we were dating.” The brunette admitted, blushing as Weiss looked at her in shock.

“Oh! You cheeky little…” The white-haired girl trailed off, she and the rabbit girl giggling as they left the desk and instead sat on the heiress’s bed. “I suppose if that’s the case, we can relax a bit at least.” She told her, as she laid back on her bed with Velvet clutching her side.

“Weiss Schnee? Relax?” Velvet exclaimed, making fun of the studious girl. Weiss siled at her sarcastically, as they lay there.

“So… I’ve never been in a relationship before, but there’s more than just cuddling involved, right?” Weiss joked.

“Oh yeah!” Velvet nodded. “You get to take me out on dates to all sorts of places!” Velvet giggled. 

Weiss rolled her eyes, kissing the rabbit girl’s forehead as her ears twitched in delight, before there was a knock at the door. Velvet clutched onto Weiss playfully, trying to stop her from answering the door and ending the cuddle session, but Weiss managed to break free, smiling at shaking her head at Velvets playful nature, before opening the door.

“Oh, hi…” Weiss said, shocked to see Coco standing rather uncomfortably before her.

“Hey Weiss…” Coco responded, entering the room as Weiss invited her in.

“Yang’s not here if you’re looking for her.” Weiss tole the brunette.

“No, she’s at my dorm, she asked me to come over here.” Coco explained. “I mean, I was going to come over at some point anyway, it’s just… look, Weiss, I’m really sorry about how I acted and how I treated you earlier.” Coco apologised. Weiss shook her head.

“It’s absolutely fine!” She assured her. “I’m glad that Velvet has someone like you looking out for her.” The heiress added, glancing over at her Faunus girlfriend and smiling. Coco sighed in relief.

“Well, I’m glad that’s sorted. NO hard feelings?” She asked Weiss extending a hand, which Weiss shook.

“I’m sorry too, to both of you.” Weiss added, but the pair brushed it off, having already forgiven Weiss.

“Listen, Yang and I were gonna go out tonight, and we were wondering if you two would like to join us?” Coco suggested. “Drinks are on me.” She added.

“Sounds great!” Velvet exclaimed. Weiss on the other hand, looked sceptical.

“I… yeah, sounds good! See you later then!” The heiress told Coco, as she left Velvet and Weiss alone.

“Weiss, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to…” Velvet told her.

“It’s not that…” Weiss paused. “Look, Velvet, I really REALLY like you, and I want to be with you no matter what. It’s just… I’m the heiress to the Schnee Dust company. I’m not bother about people seeing us together; I’m proud to be with such an incredible girl. But if word got around that we were dating, I don’t know how far my father would go to stop us from seeing each other…” Weiss explained, holding back tears. Velvet caressed Weiss’s cheek.

“I promise you, NOTHING short of the end of the world is going to break us up, as long as we still love each other!” Velvet declared, making Weiss chuckle. “I know it’s not your fault but think of it this way; nobody will know we’re together. We’ll just be two friends, one of whom happens to be a Faunus!” Velvet chuckled, and Weiss did the same.

“You’re right, I’m just being stupid…” Weiss muttered, blushing.

“Aw, don’t say that!” Velvet told the white-haired girl. “I understand the position you’re in, so just tell me if you’re ever unsure about anything. We can take things as slowly as you need to.” Velvet told her.

“It took me months just to ask you out, and even then, I managed to mess that up…” Weiss responded, looking disheartened. Velvet looked into the girl’s big blue eyes.

“Weiss, this is not going to go wrong, so stop worrying!” She assured her, siling so comfortingly that just seeing Velvet smile made Weiss think that everything was going to be alright.

“You’re right… sorry.” Weiss apologised shaking her head. “Right, now we need to pick out outfits for tonight!” She exclaimed.

“I’m so excited!” Velvet squealed, hugging Weiss. “Our first date!”

Weiss smiled, hugging Velvet back. They had taken their time, but the two had eventually got together, and now that they were, Weiss didn’t plan on letting the rabbit Faunus get away any time soon.

 

“See you later Nora!” Ren called back into their dorm room, heading out for his date with Blake, the cat girl linking his arm.

“Bye Ren…!” Nora called back, trying to sound as cheery as possible. Ren and Blake smiled back at her, as they headed out, not noticing Nora’s saddened expression. However, the ginger girl didn’t have as much luck trying to hide it from Jaune, who was laid back on his bed reading a comic that Ruby had lent him.

“What’s wrong Nora?” He asked, putting the comic book down to talk to his teammate instead. Nora shook her head.

“I don’t know… it just seems like everybody’s getting together with each other, and I’m left on my own… again.” Nora muttered, whispering the last word under her breath so that Jaune couldn’t hear. “Don’t get me wrong! I’m really happy for all of them! Ren most of all! I mean, have you seen Blake? Me-ow!” Nora giggled, trying to be light-hearted about her true feelings, but Jaune was a good enough judge of character to know that she was putting on a brave face.

“Have you considered looking for somebody to date?” Jaune suggested. “I mean, obviously somebody you like! For the love of God don’t just date somebody at random!” The blonde man told Nora, making her giggle at his awkwardness.

“I guess… there’s not really anybody at Beacon that I like though. Romantically speaking. of course!” Nora added quickly. Jaune nodded in understanding.

“Well in that case, why don’t we go into Vale tonight?” Jaune suggested. “Just us two single people, out on the town, looking for cute girls!” Jaune joked. As if he was the kind of guy to just go out and pick up girl’s.

“That’s not a bad idea Jaune!” Nora exclaimed, thinking he was being serious.

“W-What!? No! I was joking!” He told her.

“Relax, you don’t have to pick up any girl’s!” She assured him with a grin. “If nothing else, it’ll be fun; what do you say?” Nora asked.

“Well… alright, let’s go!” Jaune replied. 

“That’s the spirit!” Nora exclaimed.

The two remaining single members of team JNPR got ready to hit the town. Nora had recommended the club that she had gone to with Yang and Coco the previous night, and Jaune figured that it must be good considering that Yang was always raving about it. The two hoped that at the very least, it would be a fun night, even if they didn’t meet anybody in particular. However, what neither Jaune nor Nora realised was that they both in fact were the target’s of affection of two very separate individuals, who both had very strong feelings towards their respective crush…


	10. The Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaune and Nora run into an acquaintance who's having some trouble at the cub, and who just so happens to be harbouring feelings for a particular individual. Yang, Coco, Weiss and Velvet hit the town, while Ruby and Blake plan to set up Emerald with a date to take her mind off of Cinder.

Nora led jaune to the club, being the one who knew where it was considering she had been before. Yang had suggested it the previous night, since she got free drinks there for reasons she was unwilling to say, but Nora and Coco got a pretty good idea why considering how afraid the people working there seemed of her. The ginger girl figured that it was a pretty good place to go out, even if she and Jaune would have to pay for their drinks this time around.

“Is this it?” Jaune asked, as they got closer to the club.

“Trust me, it’s better inside.” Nora assured him.

The two entered the club, looking around once they entered for a place to hang out. All of the booths and tables seemed to be taken up, not surprising for a Saturday evening, but they didn’t come here to just hang out with each other anyway. The two looked round, before spotting two empty stools at the bar. They headed over there, when something – or rather someone – caught Nora’s eye.

“Hey, is that… what’s her name again?” Nora asked. Jaune followed Nora’s gaze to see a particularly short girl looking quite annoyed, while the bartender, Junior, seemed to be arguing with her.

“Look, I don’t know what to tell you.” Junior told Neo. “You ID is obviously fake. You just don’t look eighteen. There’s no way I’m serving you!” Junior told Neo. The girl glared angrily at him, snatching her ID back and turning to leave, extremely frustrated, before bumping in to somebody at least a foot taller than her.

“Hey Neo.” Jaune greeted her. Neo blushed as she realised that Jaune and Nora had seen everything that just happened, hr face turning from anger to embarrassment.

“It’s okay. We can vouch for her!” Nora told Junior. “She goes to Beacon with us, see!” The ginger girl told the bartender, showing her own matching Beacon ID card to him to prove that Neo’s wasn’t fake.

Junior didn’t say anything, not even apologise to Neo. Whether it was because he knew that Nora was friends with yang, and didn’t want to piss her off and have to get his bar redone again, or if he just didn’t care, he seemed to accept the ID.

“What are you all drinking?” He asked the trio. The three ordered their drinks, before sitting on their stools by the bar. Jaune noticed Neo having a bit of difficulty getting up onto the stool, and even when she was, her feet were at least a foot off the ground, but he didn’t say anything that might embarrass the girl further, especially after being mistaken for a minor.

“So, what are you doing here?” Jaune asked Neo. The girl shrugged, as she and the blond boy sipped their cocktails that Nora had recommended, no doubt from trying everything on the drinks list last night. Neo smiled up at Jaune, before taking out a small notepad and pen, writing something in it and showing it to the man.

‘Thank you for helping me’

“It was my pleasure!” Jaune told the girl, smiling at her in a friendly way, making the petite multi-coloured haired girl blush cutely. The two ‘talked’ for a while, before Jaune noticed that Nora was missing. He asked Neo if she had seen her go, but the girl just frowned and shrugged. Neo looked down, before writing in her notepad.

‘Are you two together?’ Neo wrote.

“Me and Nora!?” Jaune asked. Neo nodded. “Definitely not! I mean, she’s a very close friend, but I’m not attracted to her, and even if I were, she’s only interested in the fairer sex!” Jaune explained, making Neo smile and blush.

‘Good’ She wrote.

“Why’s that good?” Jaune asked. Neo’s face went red, before she quickly changed the subject, scribbling on the notepad.

‘So, what brings you here?’ She asked.

“Oh, Nora was feeling down, so I decided to take her out.” He explained. Neo nodded, sipping her cocktail again. She was a little frustrated with herself; this was her first proper conversation with Jaune and she was all of a sudden too shy to tell him the truth. She took another sip of her drink, as her first conversation with her crush continued…

 

Nora smirked as she looked back and Jaune and Neo, before heading across the room, only to bump into a familiar face.

“Watch it!” The black-haired girl snapped.

“Sorry.” Nora muttered, looking up to see Miltiades, one of the club’s security, standing with a drink in hand. Upon seeing how miserable Nora seemed, the goth girl relaxed a little.

“Don’t worry about.” She told the ginger. “Hey, you’re Yang’s friend, right?” Miltiades asked. Nora nodded.

“Yeah, I’m Nora.” She greeted her.

“Miltiades.” The girl replied, as the huntress giggled.

“Oh yeah. Yang totally kicked your and your sister’s asses, right?” Nora laughed, earning an annoyed glare form the green-eyed goth girl. “…Sorry.” She added, still chuckling to herself. 

“Speaking of my sister…” Miltiades muttered, looking across the room. 

Nora followed her gaze to see a girl who looked similar to Miltiades, but with longer hair and dressed in white as opposed to red. She was in the arms of a familiar man with grey hair and gey eyes and the two both seemed to have their tongues down each-others throat’s.

“Ever since she met that asshole Mercury, it’s just been like ‘Miltiades who?’, you know?” Miltiades told Nora, who nodded in agreement. “Sorry, you don’t need to hear about my problems.” The girl told Nora.

“I know what you mean.” Nora replied, thinking of her own situation how Ren was spending much more time with Blake, when it used to be just the two of them, although Miltiades didn’t seem to like Mercury as much as Nora liked Blake.

“I know it sounds stupid, but we used to spend so much time together, and for the past few weeks, I might as well have been invisible to her.” Miltiades complained. Nora nodded, looking at Miltiades more closely. She was rather cute, in a cool gothic kind of way, and seemed like she was probably a lot friendlier than she initially came across.

“Maybe you should find someone else…” Nora suggested, smiling sweetly at the girl as she moved closer to her. Miltiades nodded, before realising what Nora was getting at and quickly stepping back.

“Oh… erm, sorry, I’m not…” Miltiades stammered, her face turning red, but nowhere near a s much as Nora’s had.

“Oh God, I’m so sorry!” Nora apologised, as she and Miltiades avoided eye contact.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m flattered, and if I liked girl’s, I’d definitely consider it.” The girl told Nora.

“I understand…” The huntress replied, the atmosphere undeniably awkward now. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m just going to go and set myself on fire…”

Miltiades nodded, and with that, Nora left, downing the rest of her cocktail, only to run into yet another familiar face.

“Did you just try and ask out Miltiades?” Yang asked the ginger. Nora groaned in embarrassment, as she followed Yang to the booth where Coco, Weiss and Velvet all sat.

“I don’t want to talk about it…” Nora complained. “So what are you all doing here?” She asked them.

“First date, second date.” Coco responded, pointing first at Weiss and Velvet, and then at Yang and herself. Nora nodded. There was a slightly awkward silence, until Yang spoke.

“How about we all do shots?” The blonde suggested. Coco agreed instantly, shortly followed by Nora, who felt like she needed it. Weiss and Velvet were both hesitant, until Coco talked Velvet around, who proceeded to talk Weiss into it.

“Well… fine.” The heiress replied, looking a little reluctant, but didn’t complain.

The five raised their shot glasses once they came, before chugging them down. Velvet squealed, just about managing to swallow the strong alcohol, and Weiss almost spat hers out, while the other three seemed unaffected by the shots.

“Now the fun can really start!” Yang said with a wicked grin.

 

Blake gave Ren one last kiss, before they parted ways, with him heading into his dorm for the night, finding he was the only one there. Looking on the desk, he saw a note form Jaune and Nora stating that they had gone out, and he figured Pyrrha was with Ruby.

Meanwhile, Blake entered her dorm to find Pyrrha and Ruby both lay on the younger girl’s bed, their lips locked as they made out together. Upon hearing the door open, the two redheads immediately separated, looking as if they had done something wrong.

“Don’t stop on my account.” Blake joked with a smirk, as the two girlfriends looked a little embarrassed.

“Hey Blake. How was your date with Ren?” Pyrrha asked.

“It was lovely, thank you.” Blake replied, smiling uncontrollably. “I had no idea he was so romantic when we started dating!” The two redheads smiled, before Ruby hopped down form her bed to talk to Blake.

“Listen, Blake, can I ask you a favour?” Ruby asked.

“Sure, what do you need?” The cat girl asked, clearly in a good mood after her date with Ren.

“Do you happen to know any single girls who are also into girl’s?” Ruby asked.

“Erm, Ruby… Pyrrha’s right there!” Blake pointed out, looking up at the green-eyed girl and smirking. 

“I know… oh, not for me!” Ruby groaned, as Blake and Pyrrha chuckled at her expense. “I’m asking for a friend. You know Emerald? Pyrrha and I are looking for a girl for her to date to get over Cinder.” Ruby explained.

“Emerald has a thing for Cinder?” Blake remarked. Ruby cursed herself for telling Blake the secret.

“You’re really bad at keeping secrets!” Pyrrha told Ruby, laughing at her younger girlfriend.

“Ruby, I know you’re trying to help, but I really don’t think Emerald will feel better just from dating another girl.” Blake responded.

“All we’re trying to show her is that there’s plenty more fish in the sea.” Pyrrha explained. “Emerald got a little jealous that Cinder has a new boyfriend, so we figured that if she saw that there were other girl’s out there, she probably wouldn’t be so upset.” The girl added. Blake thought, before replying.

“I suppose I could ask my old friend, Ilia.” Blake told them. “I know she’s a lesbian, but I don’t know if she’s looking to date at the moment or not.” The Faunus girl explained.

“It’s worth a try! Ruby exclaimed. Blake nodded, as she got ready for bed, seeing as how it had gone midnight.

“Are you staying the night here, Pyrrha?” Blake asked her. Pyrrha looked over at Ruby, who nodded eagerly.

“I don’t see why not.” She told her. Blake nodded.

“Well, whatever you two get up to, can you please keep it down?” The cat girl asked, smirking and winking at the two. Pyrrha blushed, while Ruby gave a confused look, not knowing that her teammate was talking about.

“What are you implying?” Ruby asked, genuinely confused. Blake chuckled to herself.

“As if we’d do that with you in the room!” Pyrrha exclaimed, her face as red as her hair. “Besides, we’ve only been dating a week!”

Blake simply chuckled again, as Pyrrha and Ruby got ready for bed, before all three slipped into their respective beds, Pyrrha sharing Ruby’s as they cuddled together, before drifting off to sleep until the next morning.


	11. Complications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss makes a shocking discovery about Ruby. Yang reveals a family crisis to Coco, while Nora faces a crisis in her sexuality. Ilia comforts Blake when she starts to fear the worst about her relationship, and Jaune is treated to breakfast by an unexpected admirer.

Weiss groaned as she woke up slowly, looking around the unfamiliar room. The heiress rarely, if ever, drank alcohol, resulting in a particularly nasty first ever hangover after drinking admittedly a little too much the night before.

“Good morning, princess.” A familiar voice chirped. Weiss looked up to see that it was the beautiful rabbit Faunus that she was now going out with, whose lap her head was resting on as she smiled down at her girlfriend.

“Morning…” Weiss groaned, before her eyes shot wide open and she ran into team CFVY’s bathroom to throw up. Velvet made a disgusted face, but giggled when Weiss came back, wiping her mouth.

“How much did I drink?” Weiss asked. 

“No more than me, and I’m fine.” Velvet giggled, before adding, “…lightweight.”

“Hey!” Weiss exclaimed, although didn’t deny the accusation, smiling along with Velvet. “So where are the others?” She asked.

“Yang and Coco already left for breakfast, then they said they were going shopping or something.” Velvet explained. “We ran into Jaune and Neo at one point but didn’t see them for the rest of the night. Yang said they shared a cab back to Beacon. As for Nora, she sort of wandered off. I’m not entirely sure where she is…” Velvet added, frowning.

“I have her scroll number. I’ll call her to see if she’s alright.” Weiss told her girlfriend, who nodded.

“When you’re not so hungover, why don’t we go out for breakfast?” Velvet suggested with a cheeky smirk. Weiss gave her a sarcastic smile, with somewhat of a headache as she was sent a voicemail, leaving a message on Nora's scroll, before heading out with Velvet.

 

“Morning… Ruby?” Pyrrha rubbed her eyes as she sat up in Ruby’s bed, only to find that her girlfriend was missing.

“She went for breakfast about ten minutes ago.” Blake spoke, startling the redhead, not even looking up from the book she was reading as she sat on her bed with her knees tucked into her chest. “She said she didn’t want to wake you because, you ‘looked too cute’ when you were sleeping. It’s nine o’clock by the way. Oh, and good morning.” The cat Faunus told Pyrrha, traces of a smirk on her face. 

“Thanks…” Pyrrha told her, yawning as she got out of bed, almost falling as she forgot that Ruby slept in a bunk bed, but managing to land on her feet nonetheless.

“Not a morning person?” Blake asked, sipping a mug of tea. Pyrrha shook her head. “Me neither.” She added with a smile. Seeing that Pyrrha didn’t seem to be going anywhere, Blake spoke again. “You’re not going to join Ruby?” She asked.

“I’m not hungry.” Pyrrha replied. “Sorry, I can go to my own dorm if you like…” She offered, but Blake shook her head.

“I don’t mind the company.” She told the green-eyed girl, as she smiled up at her. “So, you and Ruby are looking for a date for Emerald?” Blake asked, trying to make conversation.

“Yes, Ruby is very passionate about her friends like that, isn’t she?” Pyrrha remarked, looking lovestruck. Blake smiled.

“She certainly is.” Blake replied. “You’re lucky to have her.” She added, and Pyrrha nodded.

“And to think she started off liking you…” The redhead remarked with a chuckle. Blake, however, put her book down, looking at Pyrrha with bewilderment on her face.

“What did you say?” She asked, as Pyrrha looked over at the cat Faunus in confusion. “Ruby used to like me?” She asked.

“I thought you knew…” Pyrrha responded, a look of sheer terror on her face. “Oh no, please Blake, you can’t tell her I told you!” Pyrrha pleaded.

“I won’t… don’t worry…” Blake assured the redhead, earning thanks from her. “Just out of curiosity, do you know when it was that she liked me?” She asked. Pyrrha hesitated before replying.

“I don’t know for how long, but she still had some feelings for you when she and I started dating.” Pyrrha admitted. “She was going to tell you, but Ren asked you out, and it wasn’t until later that I told her how I felt about her, and she agreed to go out with me.” Pyrrha explained.

“So, if Ren and I hadn’t started dating…” Blake began.

“She probably would have told you that day.” Pyrrha explained, as Blake nodded in deep thought. “You… do you like her!?” Pyrrha exclaimed.

“NO! No! Of course not!” Blake assured the redhead. “It’s just, I guess I feel guilty for being so oblivious.” Blake told her.

“It’s not your fault.” Pyrrha reassured the Faunus. “It’s probably for the best that she didn’t ask you out if she would have got rejected anyway.” She quickly added, as Blake nodded.

“I suppose…” She told her, before quickly slipping on her shoes and leaving the dorm. “Sorry, I have to go. Good talk. See you later!” Blake told Pyrrha, giving her a smile as she left the room, leaving Pyrrha confused, until she eventually decided to head to her own dorm.

 

Coco looked in the mirror, inspecting her reflection closely as she tried on her outfit in the changing room of the store. She knew it looked good on her, but a second opinion was always useful, stepping out, she presented herself before Yang.

“What do you think?” She asked, posing somewhat seductively for her girlfriend.

“Yeah, it’s great, you should buy that.” Yang replied, barely glancing up from her scroll for more than a second. Coco sighed.

“What is with you?” She snapped, startling Yang and almost making her drop the device in her hand. “You’ve been on that all day. Who are you texting that’s so important you can’t bring yourself to spend a few hours shopping with your girlfriend?”

“Sorry…” Yang replied, looking a little guilty as she put her scroll away. Coco sighed. 

“No, I’m sorry.” She told Yang, cursing her short temper. “It’s important, we can do this some other time.” Coco told the blonde. Yang shook her head.

“No, it was just my… never mind.” She told her. The brunette urged Yang to go on, until she reluctantly did. “Well, you know how next week we’ve got no classes? Well, my Mom wants me to go and stay with her for that week.” Yang explained.

“Your Mom?” Coco asked. “That sounds great. What’s so bad about that?” She asked.

“Apart from the fact that I hate her?” Yang asked, rolling her eyes. “You couldn’t pay me to spend a whole week with her.” Yang added, as Coco gave a sorrowful look.

“Why do you hate your Mom so much?” Coco inquired. Yang shook her head.

“It’s a long story… I’ll tell you sometime. Maybe.” Yang replied. “Besides, Ruby and I have already arranged to go stay with our Dad and Ruby’s Mom for a few days. Pyrrha’s coming too, so if you’re not busy…” Coco raised her eyebrows.

“Meeting the parents already? Do you always move this fast?” Coco remarked with a smirk. Yang grinned in response. “I would love to go.” Coco added, as Yang smiled in joy.

“Great! I’ll tell Mom – my step-mom, that is – that she’s cooking for six!” Yang exclaimed, her usual light-hearted attitude returning to her, much to Coco’s relief, as she headed back into the changing room to put her usual outfit back on.

 

“Weiss! Over here!” A voice yelled from across the cafeteria. Weiss and Velvet looked around to see Ruby waving at them from where she sat. The heiress and the rabbit Faunus headed over to Ruby, seeing that she was sat beside Ren and sitting opposite the pair.

“Did you do girlfriend swap or something?” Weiss remarked with a chuckle, making the other three laugh.

“No silly! Ren and I just bumped into each other on the way to get breakfast, so we sat together.” Ruby explained. 

“We were just discussing how great it is that you two finally got together.” Ren told the pair.

“How did you-!” Weiss began, before remembering that Ren had been Velvet’s messenger when she had been sending her love letters. “Oh yeah…” Velvet and Ren snickered at Weiss’s realisation.

“It’s good that you and Pyrrha got together too.” Velvet told Ruby, before turning to Ren. “And you and Blake. You two make a really cute couple! N-no that you and Pyrrha don’t…” Velvet added, turning back to Ruby, glancing between the two until Weiss patted her arm reassuringly.

“And breathe…” She reminded the rabbit Faunus, who did just that, taking a deep breath as she calmed herself down. The three smiled at Velvet’s excitableness, before Ren turned to Ruby.

“Honestly, I’ve never seen Pyrrha happier.” He told her. “You two are perfect for each other.” Ruby smiled, laughing anxiously.

“Yeah, you and Blake are too!” She told him. “You’re really, really lucky to have her…!” Ruby told Ren, rubbing her neck anxiously as she did, although thankfully none of her friends seemed to notice her odd behaviour.

The three finished off their breakfast, before Ren headed off to see Blake, and velvet went to the toilet, leaving Weiss alone with Ruby.

“What the hell was that!?” The heiress whisper-shouted.

“What?” Ruby asked. 

“That! About Blake!” Weiss exclaimed, as Ruby looked anxious again. “Ruby… do you still like her?” She asked.

“Alright Yes!” The silver-eyed girl admitted. “I still like Blake! Is that so bad?” She asked.

“YES!” Weiss accidentally shouted before lowering her voice. “You heard what ren said; This will crush Pyrrha…” Weiss stated, shaking her head.

“Only if she finds out…” Ruby added.

“Ruby, you HAVE to be honest with her.” Weiss informed her partner, who sighed. 

“The thing is thought, since I’ve been dating Pyrrha… I have feelings for her too.” Ruby admitted.

“Well you certainly can’t date them both! Especially not with Blake going out with Ren!” Weiss told her.

“I can’t date one and not the other though!” Ruby replied. “It’s not fair!”

“Not fair on who?” Weiss asked.

“It’s not fair on me!” Ruby shouted, attracting the attention of a few students surrounding them, before the two quieted down a little.

“I know it’s not Ruby, but you have to choose…” Weiss reasoned.

“Why should I?” Ruby asked. “I love them both, why should I have to choose?” Weiss sighed, as Velvet returned from the bathroom.

“I’m sorry Ruby, I’ve got to go.” The heiress told her partner. “Just… we’ll talk about this later, okay?” Ruby nodded, as Weiss and Velvet took off, leaving the young redhead alone, before she headed off to find Pyrrha. She decided it was best not to do anything until she could properly discuss this with Wiess.

 

“Who is it?” Ilia called out, sitting on her bed and reading a book that Blake had leant her.

“It’s me!” The person who had knocked on her dormitory door responded. The chameleon girl recognised the voice instantly and opened the door to see her cat Faunus friend.

“Hi Blake!” She smiled as she invited the black-haired girl in, happy to see her, before noticing the anxious look on her face. “Blake, what’s wrong?” Ilia asked.

“Ilia… it’s happening again!” Blake spoke in a shaky voice. The cat girl was breathing heavily, sweating a little and her whole body seemed t be shaking.

“What is?” Ilia asked, concerned as she sat Blake down on her bed.

“My friend, Ruby… she used to have a crush on me before I started dating Ren.” Blake explained amidst short rapid breaths. “Just like you did when I started dating Adam…” Ilia smiled reassuring.

“Blake, that doesn’t mean anything!” Ilia assured her. “You said it yourself; Ren is nothing like Adam and form what I’ve seen of him, I think you’re right!” The chameleon girl assured her friend. Blake shook her head, unconvinced.

“What if it’s a sign?” Blake asked. “Something bad is going to happen… I just know it…”

“Blake! Nothing bad is going to happen!” Ilia told her, holding her by the shoulders firmly. “I promise you, everything is going to be okay form here until forever, understand?” Blake nodded.

“Thanks…” She spoke, a little less worried now.

“Besides, even if it does, I’m ready to kick anybody’s ass!” Ilia declared, grinning at her friend.

“Thanks, Ilia…” Blake thanked her. The two sat in silence for a second, before Ilia spoke.

“You didn’t tell me you still had anxiety attacks.” Ilia stated. Blake bit her lip.

“That’s the first in almost a year…” Blake confessed. “Do you think it’s because I’m dating Ren?” She asked.

“Maybe.” Ilia replied. “But that doesn’t mean that you should stop dating him. After what Adam put you through, I’m not surprised you’d be worried as soon as you start dating someone new. As long as you have confidence that it will work out, I promise you that it will.” Ilia told Blake.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep…” Blake told Ilia. 

The chameleon girl didn’t know ho to respond, never having been the best at emotional talks, despite caring about Blake more than almost anybody else. Fortunately, it was Blake that changed the subject anyway.

“So, are you dating anybody?” Blake inquired.

“Blake, I’m flattered, but I couldn’t do that to Ren…” Ilia remarked, putting her hand on her chest mockingly as she grinned at Blake. The cat girl rolled her eyes, smirking.

“Not for me!” Blake exclaimed. “Ruby’s friend, Emerald, had a crush on her teammate before she got a boyfriend, so Ruby was looking for someone for Emerald to go out with.” Blake explained.

“And you came to me?” Ilia asked.

“It wouldn’t have to be anything serious.” Blake explained. “Just a few dates to make her realise there’s plenty of fish in the sea.” Ilia nodded.

“Sure, why not?” She responded.

“And who knows? It might end up more serious…” Blake teased. This time Ilia was the one to roll her eyes, as Blake messaged Ruby on her scroll to tell her to tell Emerald that she had a date.

 

“Hey, Nora. It’s Weiss. Call me back when you can, or message one of us so that we know you got home safely.”

Nora ended the voicemail, as she messaged Weiss that she was okay, just as Pyrrha entered their dorm, seeing the ginger girl sat in her bed.

“Nora, hey!” She greeted her with a smile. Nora gave a half-hearted smiled back. “What’s wrong?” She asked.

“Pyrrha… I did something.” Nora confessed, biting her lip and looking worried to the point of almost looking scared. 

“Nora… what did you do?” She asked, almost afraid of the response.

“I… I was out last night, and I’d had a bit to drink…” Nora took a deep breath. “I don’t know what I was thinking… Pyrrha, I kissed a guy!” It took Pyrrha a second or two to register what Nora had just said, before remembering that she was a lesbian, as the blue-eyed girl continued. “Not just that… I enjoyed it!” Nora added, looking worried.

“So what? You’re bi?” Pyrrha asked. Nora shrugged.

“I just always assumed that I was gay.” She explained. “My whole life, I never had that ‘coming out’ moment, going from being straight to being gay. I was always only ever into girls. But now… I don’t know…” There was a moment of silence before Pyrrha spoke again.

“You know, most people have this conversation in reverse…” The redhead remarked. The two laughed, as Pyrrha sat beside Nora, putting her arm around her. “You know… bisexual, homosexual, heterosexual, pansexual, asexual… whatever you are, you are Nora. You are and always will be the crazy girl with a giant hammer that loves pancakes.” Pyrrha told her ginger teammate, making her smile.

“Thanks…” Nora giggled, wiping away a tear. “It’s just so confusing…” Pyrrha nodded.

“Do you know who the guy was?” She asked. Nora shook her head.

“No, but he seemed very nice.” Nora thought back. “Could I just be alone for a while to figure this out?” Nora asked. Pyrrha nodded.

“Of course.” She told Nora, turning to leave the room to look for Ruby before Nora called her back.

“Wait, sorry but did Jaune ever come back?” Nora asked. Pyrrha frowned.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him.” The redhead replied. “Maybe he went to get breakfast.” She suggested. Nora nodded, as Pyrrha left her alone with her thoughts, a new mission to track down Jaune.

 

Jaune groaned as he woke up, sitting up in bed in an unfamiliar room. He looked around, not recognising anything, expect the girl sitting at the end of his bed…

“AH!” Jaune yelled, jumping in fright as he spotted the girl sitting by the foot of the be. The girl, startled, jumped half a foot in the air, before turning to face Jaune, scowling at him. Upon looking closer, Jaune saw that it was the girl he had met at the club the previous night, Neo.

“Sorry…” He apologised, as the brown and pink-hare girl got back up onto the bed after having fallen on the floor. 

Neo was still scowling at the blond man, but as he looked around at what must have been her dorm, he noticed a mug of coffee on the bedside table that’s he must have made for him. He picked it up and started drinking it, as he observed nobody else in the room. The coffee had started to go cold but was still hot enough to drink.

“Thank, Neo.” The blue-eyed man thanked her, as she blushed and smiled at him, writing something on her notepad that she had been using last night.

‘Would you like to get breakfast with me? My treat…’ She had written.

“Sure, but you don’t have to pay…” He told her, as she wrote something else under it.

‘I insist.’ She had written, with the word ‘insist’ underlined. Jun chuckled.

“Well, I suppose if you ‘insist’…” He told her, chuckling as she gave him a cute smile, pausing before writing something else down.

‘You do know I meant as a date?’ She had written.

“Well, I do now.” He told her, getting out of bed.

‘So… do you want to go out…?” Neo wrote, her cheeks bright red as she refused to look at Jaune out of embarrassment as he read the note.

“Oh… I don’t know…” He responded, as Neo looked up at him, unsure ho to react. “Don’t get me wrong! You’re cute, and sweet, and funny…. I just don’t really know you. Maybe if we had a few more dates though…” The man suggested. Neo smiled in delight, hugging Jaune in joy.

“Alright! Let’s see how breakfast goes first!” He told her, earning a cute smile from the girl as she nodded, leading him out of the dorm room to get breakfast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So just to explain, Summer is still alive in this and married to Taiyang. I will explain what the deal with them and Raven is in future chapters.


	12. Disaster Strikes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaune and Neo plan a date, things are looking up for Nora and Emerald, Velvet wants to spend some time alone with Weiss, and Yang tells Ruby about Coco coming home with them for the week. Things are looking to be overall positive, when Blake sees an unwelcome familiar face at Beacon.

Ruby smiled, sitting back and relaxing in the sun on this beautiful Sunday afternoon. The rest of team RWBY, as well as team JNPR, Coco, Velvet, Neo, Ilia and Emerald, sat around on the field, also basking in the sunlight, each of them conversing with one another.

“I have to say Ruby, you were right.” Weiss admitted. “This picnic was a great idea.”

“Thanks.” Ruby replied with a smile.

“I agree; this was just what I needed. Thank you, Ruby.” Blake added. The silver-eyed girl blushed a little.

“T-Thanks…” She replied, smiling at Blake, ignoring Weiss’s knowing look.

“So, are you two dating now?” Yang asked Jaune, pointing between him and Neo. The blond man looked down at Neo, who was giving him the cutest pleading look imaginable.

“Well, no, I mean yes! I mean- is this a date?” He replied, Neo cocked her head in confusion, as Jaune cleared his throat. “I mean, yes, were dating…” He confirmed.

“YEAH! Way to go Jaune!” Nora exclaimed in delight, receiving thanks from Neo who was glad that she at least had the approval of his friends. “Now I’m the only one still single…” Nora stated, looking a little saddened, but still making light of the situation, with Jaune and Pyrrha being the only ones who knew how she felt wit her having opened up to them.

“That’s not true.” Emerald pointed out. “I’m single too.” The mint-haired girl reminded everybody, smiling anxiously at herself. Ilia leaned over to Blake.

“Blake, I know you mentioned setting me up with Emerald – and don’t get me wrong, she’s cute and all – but maybe it would be a good idea to set her up with Nora instead. She seems like she could do with someone.” The chameleon girl pointed out. Blake looked between Emerald and Nora, before grinning and thanking Ilia.

“Hey Nora, why don’t you go out with Emerald?” Blake suggested, much to the ginger girl’s surprise, although Ruby and Pyrrha both smiled upon realising what Blake was doing. 

“What?” Nora asked, looking over at Emerald, who blushed.

“Yeah, you two would make a great couple!” Ruby reassured them. “Even if you only went on a couple of dates, maybe you’d both feel better?” She suggested. The two might have been offended had anybody else suggested this, but they both knew Ruby well enough to know that she meant well for them.

“I… suppose it couldn’t hurt.” Nora responded. “Plus, you are kind of a catch!” The ginger-haired girl added, grinning as she flirted with Emerald. The red-eyed girl smiled, blushing again.

“Alright, why not?” She responded. “After all, it’s just a couple of dates, what’s the worst that could happen?” She asked, as Nora sat beside her.

“Ah! Don’t jinx us!” Nora exclaimed, making Emerald giggle at the girl’s joy and excitability, while a few other people laughed along at Nora’s typical goofiness. The ginger girl smiled, feeling better already, as did Emerald, as the pair sat side by side.

The group celebrated temporarily, talking to each other as they discussed various mostly relationship-based things, before Yang remembered what she had to tell Ruby.

“Oh, sis, I meant to tell you that Coco’s coming home with us next week as well.” Yang told her sister, who smiled up at her sibling’s brunette girlfriend.

“It’ll be like we’re one big family!” She exclaimed cheerily as she hugged the brown-haired girl in shades. Coco chuckled at her girlfriend’s sisters adorableness, hugging her back, as Pyrrha watched on, smiling at her own girlfriend’s friendly nature.

“Oh! Speaking of the week-long break…” Velvet suddenly remembered. “Weiss, I just found out that my parents are going to be out of town that week, and I was wondering…” The rabbit Faunus stopped, unsure of herself until she received a reassuring nod from her wing woman Coco and continued. “… I was wondering it you’d want to – if you’re not busy this is – if you’d want to, erm, I don’t know, maybe want to come around to my place?” Velvet finally managed.

“Really?” Weiss asked, an undeniable smile on her face, as was with Velvet’s as she nodded.

“Yeah! We could hang out, watch a few movies, cuddle, and do other stuff…” She trailed off, before quickly adding. “N-Not that stuff! I mean, other stuff… I mean, not that I don’t want to – I don’t! I mean, not yet, eventually…” The poor socially awkward rabbit girl eventually gave up, collapsing int a ball on the gassy field where she curled up in embarrassment. 

Weiss laughed at the Faunus girl, helping her to sit back up, even though she still hid her bright red face from everybody.

“I’d be happy to spend a week doing ‘stuff’ with you.” Weiss joked, as everybody laughed, making Velvet blush even harder.

Meanwhile, Neo had been writing something down as she laughed silently along with everybody else, before showing what she had written to Jaune.

‘How about you and I go on a date this week, since there’s no classes?’ She asked him.

“That sounds great!” He responded, as the mute girl practically jumped up into his arms to hug him.

The thirteen of them continued to have a very pleasant picnic, until Emerald’s mood suddenly shifted as she looked out across the field to where two figures were sitting with each other looking rather intimate.

“What is it, Emerald?” Nora asked. The red-eyed girl shook her head.

“N-Nothing…” She admitted. “It’s just, Cinder – my team leader and also the girl I’ve been trying to get over – she’s over there with her new boyfriend.

Immediately, the entire group’s eyes were directed over to where Cinder and the male figure were sitting.

“Ugh, get a room…” Coco commented, seeing the two with their hands all over each other, making out in public as a few of the people around them were noticeably uncomfortable.

“He looks like a jerk.” Nora commented, quickly siding with Emerald, considering that she was potentially going to be dating this girl, plus the fact that he did look like a jerk.

“I agree. He looks like bad news. What do you think, Blake?” Ren commented, before asking his girlfriend her opinion. Blake, however, was frozen in hear, as she stared across at the man whom Cinder was kissing, she and Ilia both recognising him instantly.

“Blake…” Ilia began to try to calm her feline friend down, but the cat girl took of running back to her dorm, quickly followed by Ilia, Ren and Yang.

Blake didn’t stop running until she reached her teams dorm, before she pulled her desk in front of it, barricading herself in. The amber-eyed girl didn’t even notice that her breaths were heavy and short, and she was sweating and shaking a little. She couldn’t stand this feeling, as she burst into the bathroom and was sick in the toilet, the image of that man right in front of her burned into her brain.

“Blake, open up!” Yang demanded, pounding on the door, but her partner ignored her, not letting anybody in to see her like this.

“Stop it, Yang.” Ilia told her. “That’s not helping.” 

“I’m trying to help!” Yang snapped.

“Well you’re not! If anything, you’re making it worse!” Ilia shot back, making the blonde back down as she accepted that she didn’t know exactly what was going on.

“What’s wrong with her?” Ren asked.

“She’s having a panic attack.” Ilia explained. “I can calm her down, but you two should go. We don’t want to overwhelm her.” The chameleon girl explained.

“I’m not leaving her!” Ren argued.

“Me neither!” Yang added, “Since when has Blake had panic attacks anyway?” She asked. Ilia sighed, knowing that Blake wouldn’t want her to tell Ren and Yang about Adam, but not really seeing another way of explaining this to them.

“Look, what I’m about to tell you two, you do NOT tell anybody else, and especially don’t tell Blake until I’ve had a chance to speak with her.” Ilia told them. 

Ren nodded, and where Yang would normally have argued back, she simply nodded along too, wanting to do whatever was best for her best friend. Ilia sighed.

“That man that Cinder was with… that was Adam. Blake’s ex.” Ilia explained.

“WHAT!?” Yang yelled, and Ilia had to quickly calm her down to avoid her running off and starting a fight she couldn’t win with Adam. She remembered that Blake had said she had told Yang a little about Adam, but it had presumably been enough for Yang to develop a string hatred of the man.

“Blake told me she’d never dated anybody…” Ren said, hurt that she would have lied to him.

“Well I doubt she would have wanted to talk about it.” Ilia told him. “He was… to put it lightly, less than pleasant to her.” Ilia explained, as Yang muttered something under her breath that sounded like ‘very lightly’.

“You mean he… he hurt her?” Ren asked, his hands in fists as both Yang and Ilia surprised ot see Ren getting angry.

“Yes.” Ilia confirmed Ren’s worst fears. “He isolated her from her family, hit her controlled every aspect of her life, manipulated her and made her life hell for the entire time they were together, until she eventually came here with her parents. In fact, he’s the reason I hadn’t seen Blake in so long until the other week.” Ilia explained to them, as both of them looked ready to fight Adam right then and there.

“I’m going to kill him.” Yang growled, as Ren nodded,

“Wait!” Ilia urged them. “Starting a fight with Adam will only make things worse for all of us, especially Blake.” Ilia told them. “Right now, he doesn’t know she’s here, and it’s best that we keep it that way for as long as we can.” The chameleon girl told them.

Reluctantly, Ren and Yang clamed themselves down, as Ilia tried the door.

“Blake, please, we want to help you!” She spoke loud enough for her friend to hear, but soft enough to be almost comforting. “I’m here with Ren and Yang. Please will you let us in?” She asked.  
Silence.

“Blake, please, you don’t need to let all of us in. Just one of us if you want.” Ilia told her. They waited a few seconds, and to their surprise, they heard Blake shift the desk form in front of the door and unlock it.

“Ilia…” Blake muttered, as she opened the door for her oldest friend, unintentionally hurting Yang and Ren, but she knew that Ilia would be the most understanding.

Ilia gave the two a nod, and a warning look not to confront Adam, before she and Blake both disappeared behind the locked door, and yang and ren headed back to the picnic.

Blake broke down crying again, hugging Ilia tightly as if she were hanging on to her for dear life as she was overcome with a flurry of emotions, thoughts and feelings.

“It’s okay… it’s okay…” Ilia reassured Blake, holding her head to her shoulder.

“No… it’s not…” Blake whimpered. “He’s here…. He found me… he’s after me…” Blake cried hysterically. 

“He’s not here for you, it’s just a coincidence.” Ilia tried to convince the cat girl, but it was apparently no use.

“He is, Ilia… he’s here… he’s back…” She sobbed. “Adam’s back.”


End file.
